Getaway
by 1ForSorrow
Summary: After a fight with her husband Norma decides her and her sons need a change. They find their way to a small town in Oregon where they are met with new people and more drama than they had planned. Normero fic. (Takes place in 2003)
1. Chapter 1

A/N: So to be honest I never intended on doing Bates Motel fanfics, I've loved the show since the day it aired but I never felt like I had the correct writing style to pull off these fantastic characters. That being said I noticed there was a huge lacking of Bates stories and figured I might as well give it a try. This story will be centered around the Bates family, Alex, and how the group could have came together back in 2002. If you think it's worth sticking around for let me know, I got a lot in mind for this story going forward.

There was something about the feeling you get after a storm is over, Norma thought, when the rain stops and the sun starts to shine through the clouds. It's a calming effect, like the universe telling you even though things are dark and gloomy it doesn't mean that things can't change, that it might all be worth it when the rainbow appears. Sadly though her life was like monsoon season, good things never lasted long.

She pulled her old station wagon into the driveway, barely getting the car into park before her eleven year old son hopped out and headed for the front door.

"No thanks, Dylan, I can get the groceries." Norma said aloud to herself sarcastically.

"I'll help bring in the bags, mother." Norman said from the backseat, she glanced back at him with a sweet smile. He was only seven years old but already she could tell he was going to be different, there was a pureness about him that she loved. The both of them climbed out of the car and around to the back, she opened the trunk and found a few of the lighter bags to hand to him and took the heavier ones for herself before closing the hatchback and going inside their home.

"You can set the bags down here, I can take them the rest of the way." Norma said, noticing him struggling to keep them in his small grasp.

"No, I got them." He said shifting the bags and taking a couple steps before dropping two of them to the ground, a loud shattering noise following afterwards. Norma set down her bags and rushed over to where he was, he looked at the splattered red sauce all over the carpet then up at his mother, tears already filling his eyes.

"Norman, it's okay honey." She bent down and placed both hands on his shoulders to reassure him. "It was an accident, you don't have to be upset about it."

He reached up and rubbed his eyes, his face still scrunched up. "I just wanted to help you, I didn't mean to drop it."

"I know you didn't mean to, here, come here." She said then pulled him into a hug till she felt him start to calm down, when he stopped crying she leaned away and ran her hand on his face, wiping away the tears from his cheeks. "How about you go and wash your face and I'll clean this up, we can just order a pizza for dinner tonight, how does that sound?"

"That sounds good." Norman said with a faint smile on his face.

"Alright, go wash up." She patted his arm and he walked off towards the bathroom, on his way down the hall Dylan looked out from their room at him.

"What was all that noise, Sam get home already?" Dylan asked, sitting up on his bed, taking a mental note of Norman's puffy eyes.

"No, I dropped a bag and the glass jar broke."

"Norma yell at you about it?"

"No, she wouldn't yell at me."

"Then why were you crying?"

"Because I made a mess, now she has to clean it up."

"Geez Norman, that's nothing to cry about. She doesn't even work, it's not like cleaning up a spill is going to get in the way of her busy schedule."

"I don't like making things harder for her, she should always be happy."

"That's not life Norman, people are never happy all the time, the sooner you realize that the better." Norman's face filled with disappointment, Dylan instantly felt bad for ruining his hopes but it was how he truly felt. He looked down and noticed sauce on Norman's khakis then stood up and went into the dresser, grabbing out a clean pair of pants and walking over to him. "You should change, you have sauce all over your pants."

"Thanks." Norman said, grabbing them from his brother and walking towards the bathroom.

"Norman." Dylan said, causing him to stop. "Maybe people can be happy, we might still have a chance someday." He nodded back at him, feeling slightly better as he continued to the bathroom.

Out in the living room Norma had already brought all the bags to the kitchen and was on the ground picking up pieces of the broken glass, tossing them into the trash bin. Dylan walked out beside her and looked at the mess on the floor.

"You need any help?" He asked and Norma looked up at him surprised he had even asked.

"No, that's okay, I don't want you to get cut."

He nodded then stood silent a moment. "Is it okay if I go for a bike ride while the rain is stopped?"

"Yeah, just don't go to far in case it starts again." She said and he headed out the door without another word. Once all the pieces she could find were off the floor she went to the kitchen to get something to clean the carpet with, trying to figure out what would be best so it wouldn't stain. While she was looking she heard the front door open and she stood up to walk back into the living room. "Well that was a quick bike ride." She said smiling, it faded when she saw it was Sam who had entered and was now staring angrily at the spill on the carpet.

"What the hell is this?" He asked, throwing the folders in his hands to the couch so aggressively that the papers inside flew everywhere.

"I'm cleaning it up right now."

"Cleaning it up, it's a giant fucking pile of red sauce on my carpet." Sam said loud enough to echo through the whole house. Norma heard Norman's bedroom door shut, she told him long ago that anytime he heard Sam getting angry that he was to shut his door and hide in the closet or under his bed. "How did this happen?"

"Norman was helping me carry in the groceries and he lost hold of the bags."

"And where were you when this went down, kicking back on the couch while the six year old does all the work?"

"I was right behind him carrying in my own set of bags." Norma said, starting to raise her voice a few notches. "And he's seven years old, not six."

"If this happened when you got home from the grocery store why isn't it cleaned up already?"

"Because we just got home ten minutes ago and my superhero cape is at the cleaners so I couldn't magically clean in warp speed."

"You know what time I get home at, why weren't you here already home and done with making dinner ten minutes ago? You needed more time at the store to spend my paychecks?"

"It was down pouring out, I was waiting till it stopped to drive home with the kids."

"You worry about driving home with them in a little bit of rain but you'll use them to carry in your bags."

"I wasn't using him to do anything, he wanted to help me."

"Yeah, great help he was. My floors ruined and brand new food was wasted."

"It was one jar of sauce, I don't think we're gonna be short on the mortgage payment because of it."

"You think this is funny? That money is something you can just throw around whenever you want? How about you try working a day in your life and you might think twice about what kind of crap you buy."

"I work every single day, I'm raising two young boys all on my own since you are either at work, the bar or too drunk to stand up straight. So don't act like your six hours of sitting on your ass filling out insurance paperwork is some big job." Norma screamed, she knew what would happen now but once she started something in her wouldn't stop, couldn't stop.

"What did you just fucking say to me?" Sam already started walking towards her and she shrugged knowing there was no turning back.

"Guess your job doesn't come with good health insurance because if you didn't hear me you should have had your ears checked out long ago." Just like that his hand smacked across her face, she reached up and held her cheek which was already burning from the hit. The next thing she felt was his hands on her arms shoving her towards the wall and slamming her into it, her head knocking into the drywall. She braced herself for what was next when she heard a scream from the hallway.

"Stop!" Norman yelled and they both turned to look at him. "It was my fault dad, don't hurt her!"

"Norman, sweetie, go back to your room." Norma said in a calm tone, hoping he would be comforted enough to turn around.

"I didn't mean to drop the bags, I'm really sorry."

"How is it a kid talks to me with more respect than you do, huh?" Sam said, twisting her arm and making her scream. A few seconds later a set of little hands landed on him and started pulling at him.

"Let go of mother, you're hurting her." Norman screamed, trying with all his might to get him to let go of her. Sam got out of his grip in seconds and shoved him down the hallway, causing Norman to land on the floor and start crying. He finally let go of Norma and started walking towards his son, Norma didn't let him get more than a few feet away from her when she knew she had to stop him.

"Sam." Norma said grabbing his arm and rubbing it gently. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean what I said. I know you work hard and I was just stressed out so I took it out on you, I'm sorry baby." She looked at Norman still planted on the hallway floor wanting nothing more than to run over and comfort him but knowing she had to calm Sam down first before he could do anymore to either of them. "I'll get the mess cleaned up right away and start on dinner, if you want you can go to the pub and have something to hold you over and I'll come pick you up."

Sam shook her hand off of him. "I don't need you to pick me up, I can find my own damn way home. You'd probably get lost on the way there anyways, you've always been useless."

Norma took all the strength she had not to say anything back to him as he walked away and left the house, once the door closed she ran straight to Norman and got down on the floor next to him. "Are you okay, are you hurt?"

"No, I'm not hurt." Norman said, his words still not stopping her from checking him for injuries. "Mother, I'm okay."

"I'm so sorry he did that to you, I never wanted you to get in between our battles."

"I'm sorry I left my room, I know you tell me never to do it but I didn't want him to hurt you for something I did wrong."

"I know, you were doing what you thought was right but we are never going to have to deal with this kind of thing anymore. I will not allow him to lie another hand on you ever again."

"How do you know he won't come find me in my room if I do something wrong again and hurt me like he hurts you?"

"Because we are leaving." Norma stood up and pulled Norman to his feet with her, she grabbed his hand and lead him to his room. She opened up the closet and grabbed out two suitcases they had from a trip Sam's work had sent them on the year before, she opened Norman's and set it on his bed before filling it with several sets of clothes. "Fill this the rest of the way with anything else you want, we can't bring everything."

"Okay mother." Norman said and started looking around the room for the things he most wanted to keep while Norma did the same with Dylan's stuff. "It won't all fit." He said trying to shut his jam packed bag, Norma looked over before going back to the hook on the wall and grabbing off both their backpacks, dumping the contents onto the floor and throwing one of the bags over to Norman. Once they had all the bags filled she grabbed a few garbage bags to put their bedding in then she went and made her own suitcase while Norman filled up what was Sam's suitcase with stuff around the house they would need. As the last step Norma had Norman go bag up food for the road while she went into the hall closet where she knew Sam had a stash of money at, it was only a couple hundred but it would get them by for awhile.

"Let's load the car quick and hopefully your brother will be back by the time we're done." A few minutes later the car was loaded and Norma had her youngest set up in the car, she looked around the neighborhood hoping to see Dylan round the corner any second but after waiting twenty minutes she decided it might be better if they went and found him themselves. She climbed in the car and turned it on then started pulling out of the driveway.

"Are we leaving without Dylan?" Norman said in a worried tone.

"No, we are going to look for him, we would never leave without your brother." She said and they drove up a few blocks, she switched her wipers on as the rain started again. Good, she thought, Dylan knows to come home when a storm starts. She got to the stop sign and was about to make a U-turn when Dylan biked out in front of the car, she quickly put it in park and hopped out. "Dylan, get off your bike and get in the car."

"Why? Am I in trouble?" Dylan asked, going through his head of the things he'd done wrong lately she could be scolding him for.

"No, just push your bike aside and let's go." He climbed off his bike and before he could question anything she grabbed it and wheeled it onto the sidewalk then directed him to the back seat of the car.

Dylan looked out the window of the car at his bike as Norma hopped back into the driver's seat and started driving off. "We can't leave my bike there, someone might steal it before I go back to get it."

"We aren't going back."

"What are you talking about?"

"We're leaving." Norman said, earning a confused look from his brother.

"What?" Dylan says and looked and the rearview mirror where Norma is looking back at him. "Where is Sam at?"

"Sam's not coming with us."

"You're leaving him?" Dylan asks and no one answers, making it clear that was the intention. "Just like you left my dad, you never change."

Norma slammed her foot down on the break and if the boys weren't already seatbelted in they'd be hugging the back of the front seat right now, she clipped her belt and threw it to the side then turned around to face Dylan. His expression quickly changed from tough to a scared little boy just from the look on her face. "You want to stay here?" She asked, he worried for a moment she was going to push him out of the car and drive off till she spoke again. "I will turn this car around right now and we will stay, but let me tell you not to expect a warm welcome from Sam when he finds out what I'm trying to do. You do not know what I have put up with with that man or your father for that matter so if you think you know better than me tell me right now and we'll go back."

"I don't want to go back mother!" Norman said in a panic, Dylan still sitting with a shocked expression on his face.

"So what will it be, Dylan?" Norma asked. "Back to Sam or a new life somewhere we don't have to live in fear everyday?"

Dylan glanced over at his little brother, his blue eyes pleading for a better life away from his father. He turned back to Norma. "Do you promise it will be better?"

"I can't promise that but I'll do everything in my power to make it happen."

"Then-" Dylan started to speak until he saw a figure approaching the passenger side window, his eyes widened. "Go, Norma, drive!" He yelled and Norma looked over to see Sam walking up to the car, she turned around and threw it into drive before pulling away. He pounded on the side windows as they drove away from him, screaming out her name over the sound of the pouring rain but she doesn't slow down till his figure was gone from her mirror.

Dylan stared out the back window still expecting to see Sam following them, he's long gone and has been for several hours now, but he also knows how determined his step father can be and he worries that the quick stop they made earlier to eat and take a bathroom break may have gave him time to catch up to them. Norma peeks in her rearview mirror and notices him looking back at the road behind them.

"You okay, Dylan?" Norma asks, he turns back around in his seat and nods, pretending he has no worries in the world.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He says then they both sit quietly, Norman sleeping peacefully in the backseat beside him. "Hey, Norma?" Dylan said, sitting up straighter in his seat so he could see Norma in her mirror. "What made you decide to leave now?"

She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "Sam hasn't been a good man for a long time, if we'd stayed who knows what would happen next."

"But you have been dealing with him like that for years now, what changed?"

Norma glanced back at Norman a moment before turning back to watch the road. "Norman came out and tried to defend me, he pulled on Sam to try and get him to let go of my arms and Sam shoved him to the floor."

Dylan looked over at his sleeping brother, the small boy who went up against his own father just too protect their mother. "He hurt Norman?" He asked, looking back at Norma.

"He said he didn't get hurt but I wasn't willing to let anything like that happen to him again, or to you."

"I'm sorry for what I said before, I'm glad we left." He saw Norma's lip curl into a smile, he was never one to apologize but he knew he had been wrong and that she was only doing what she thought was best. He sat back and looked out the window as they passed a sign telling them they were entering Pasadena. "So, where are we going?"

"Portland, Oregon."

"Why there?"

"It's a long story."

"How long of a drive is it?"

"About fourteen more hours, not counting stops."

"I think you have time to tell it." He says and they both smile before their conversation is cut off by Norman mumbling in his sleep.

"Mother, no, let go of her, stop it!" Norman squealed, tossing and turning in his seat.

"Norman, sweetie wake up." Norma says gently, trying to wake him up with only her voice but he continues saying no.

"I got it." Dylan said then he reached over and placed his hand on Norman's shoulder, squeezing it softly. "Norman, wake up." His tired eyes started to open and he looks around the car, still foggy on what is happening. "It's just a dream, you're okay."

Norman rubbed his eyes starting to wake up fully and Dylan removed his hand, he squinted up at the front seat. "Mother, I need to pee."

"Okay, let me find somewhere we can go."

They drove up the road several miles till she pulled off into a rest stop, the three of them went in together and Dylan kept a close eye on his brother while they waited for Norma to finish. Afterwards the boys talked her into buying them a hot cocoa from the vending machine and she got a coffee for herself before they headed back to the car. Norma grabbed out a couple of blankets and pillows from the trunk and set them up in the backseat, Norman falling back to sleep before she even shut his door then she returned to her seat to start driving again.

"When are you going to sleep?" Dylan asked her.

"When we get to Portland."

"That's way too long, it's ten o'clock, you must be tired already."

"I got coffee, I'll be fine."

"There are people over there sleeping in their trucks, you can park next to them and sleep awhile."

"I'm fine to drive Dylan."

"We have been on the road long enough, he's not going to find us here anymore than he would in Portland, pull over there and get some rest."

Norma smiles back at her oldest then starts up the car, he figures she is gonna drive away but she pulls over to the other side of the parking lot reserved for long stops like sleeping. Dylan reaches in the back and grabs Norma a pillow and blanket before climbing into the passenger seat, she looks over at him while he's getting settled.

"If I sleep up here you can put your seat back."

"Well don't get too comfortable there, I'm only sleeping a couple hours."

Five hours had passed before Norma was ready to get back on the road, she had woke Dylan and made him move to the backseat again so he could keep sleeping till morning. Throughout the day they would make stops to eat, use the restrooms and stretch their legs then hurry back into the car to try and make it to Portland before suppertime since Norma promised them a nice dinner out once they got there.

"Are we almost there?" Norman asked. "I'm hungry."

"We're gonna be there in an hour, have some of your snacks if you don't think you can wait that long." Norma said while they drove on the outskirts of some small town in Oregon. Norman reached back into their bags and grabbed out a small bag of chips, he opened it up then him and Dylan ate a few out when the car started to make a loud sound and stopped running. "Are you serious?" Norma said to herself as she pulled off to the side of the road, she turned her key and tried to start the car several times but nothing happened.

"What's wrong with it?" Dylan asked but Norma ignores the question and keeps trying to start the car. When it makes no attempt at restarting she takes the keys out of the ignition and throws them against the passenger side window making both boys jump at the sudden noise. They are used to what's coming, when Norma gets overwhelmed she doesn't tend to hide it well, she used to try but after so many years of pain it became pointless.

"Of course, of course this stupid car would break down! One hour, this piece of junk only had to make it one more hour and we would be able to start over!" Norma screamed with a hint of sadness in her voice, she wouldn't cry though, she was too stubborn for that. Instead she just slammed her hand into the steering wheel over and over again making the horn honk several times, none of them noticing the car pull up behind them..


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all for the amazing feedback, I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to stick around. I'm happy that you guys feel like they are in character because that's what I worried most about when I'm writing, I think going forward in this story you will see a lot of differences from what we saw on screen but that's because I felt that being ten years prior opened up new doors to change how these people became in the future and really show how certain things can affect their lives, be it for the better or for the worse. Anyways, hope you enjoy the second chapter and let me know what you think!

He wasn't one to flirt, never really saw the point of it. If you were meant to be with someone you would both feel it, you wouldn't need some ridiculously sculpted line just to get their attention. Yet here he was, sitting just a little too close to the front desk clerk at the station he worked for, making her giggle like a schoolgirl. It wasn't because he liked her, she was sweet and nice to look at but she just wasn't his type. It was because he found that flirting could be useful in getting someone comfortable around you, and when people were comfortable you could get away with more than usual. Sneaking around the station hadn't been an issue a few months ago, the former clerk was hard of hearing and liked their naps so when the new girl showed up he had to come up with something.

"I can't believe you ran fourteen blocks just to catch him." Chloe said, still laughing from the story he told her.

"Well I felt bad for the kid, he didn't stop crying till I got his stolen gameboy back."

"I don't know how you kept up with a teenager, I could never have done that."

"I bet you could of, and you would have looked way better running down the street in a uniform than I did." He said, flashing her a fake smile and making her blush. He looked over at the clock quick then back at her. "We should probably get back to work, I've taken up enough of your time with my herotic stories."

"Yeah, I suppose we should." She said with a laugh then he scooted his chair back to his spot, she stood up from her desk and looked over at him. "I'm gonna grab a soda and some chips from the machine quick, you want anything?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Any in particular?"

"Surprise me." He said with a smile, she walked out into the hallway and he watched for the door to close completely behind her before he stood up and hurried over to an office near him. He immediately started searching through everything, the desk, the cabinets, even looking under anything sitting on the surfaces. Just when he thought he had looked everywhere and was ready to give up he noticed a framed photo sitting on the desk. "When have you ever kept photos on display." He said to himself then grabbed the photo and opened the back of it, once he pulled the stand off there was a key taped to the backside of the photo. He looked at it and let out a quiet chuckle. "Should have hid it in a bottle of whiskey, I wouldn't have looked twice at it." He shoved the key in his pocket before he heard a couple voices outside of the office, he quickly put the photo frame back together and made his way to the door, not in time though because a uniformed man entered the office. "Hey, Michael."

"What are you doing in here?" His fellow officer asked, looking around the office for anything off.

"Sheriff Romero asked me to see if he left his wallet in here, he had got a call and rushed out of here so quickly he didn't think to check if he had it."

Michael nods, fully believing his lie. "Were you able to find it?"

"He called while I was looking, turns out it was in the pocket of the coat he took the whole time. He left it in the car when he got hot, I warned him it was too warm out for a jacket but he didn't listen."

"Yeah, he's not an easy man to give advice to." Michael said with a chuckle, he smirked back.

"That he is not." He said then after a short silence he spoke again. "Well I should get going, I'm officially off the clock for today and I got a nice stack of unfinished paperwork at home waiting for me."

"See you later man."

"See you later." He said and gave Michael a pat on the shoulder as he passed him and walked back out of the office. Chloe was already sitting back at her seat with the items she retrieved from the vending machine.

"I got you skittles." She says, holding out a small bag.

"Thank you." He said as he walked over and grabbed it from her. "I'm gonna head home, I'll see you tomorrow." He started to walk away when she stopped him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your dad you were in his office."

He looked back at her, feeling slightly guilty for using her crush on him to snoop around his father's office. "Thanks."

"Have a good night, Alex." He nodded back at her then left the police station. Afterwards he drove a few miles to a large house in town, lucky for him it was very secluded so there were no neighbors to see him sneak around the backside. He found the one faulty window in the whole place and pulled it open from the outside, he carefully popped the screen out of place and climbed inside. Once inside he walked a few feet only stopping when he heard a noise upstairs, the noise became louder and moved to the stairway. He reached into his pocket and grabbed what he was going to need, the sound got closer and finally reached him, the force of the dark figure slamming into him almost knocked him over.

"Chevy!" Alex yelled as the German Shepherd assaulted his face with kisses. "Get down boy, sit." He said and the dog listened to his command, taking a seat on the floor. "Good boy." He said and handed the dog the treat from his hand, rubbing his head while he ate it. Alex walked over and found the light switch turning it on so he could finally see, he walked to the staircase and went straight up to the master bedroom. Walking over to the bed he kneeled down and reached underneath, pulling a lock box out and setting it on top of the bed. He grabbed inside his pocket and took out the key then opened the safe with it, he skimmed through the files inside then stood up and walked to the home office. He used the scanner to make copies of everything he found before going back to the bedroom and putting all the original papers back into the lock box and leaving with the new ones.

The next day Alex sat alone at the diner in town, sipping his coffee and watching the door for a familiar face to walk inside.

"Can I getcha anything else, hun?" The waitress asked, holding a pen and paper in her hands.

"No, I'm good for now."

"Okay, if you need anything give me a holler." She said and walked away, just as he looked back towards the door a man sat down across from him.

"Oliver." Alex said, greeting the man.

"Whatever you dragged me out of bed at six in the morning for better be worth it."

"Having breakfast with your partner isn't worth getting up early for?"

"I see that mug of yours five, sometimes six days a week, this is my day off. Whaddya got?"

"I came across a huge break on the drug trade industry, and one of the main players is on the force. I want you to be the one to alert the DEA."

"Why are you giving me all this information?" Oliver asked surprised. "A bust like that would not go unnoticed, you'd be promoted and probably even commended."

When Alex was about to speak the waitress returned to their table. "Oliver, you want some coffee, sweetheart?"

"Sure, thank you." Oliver said politely and the waitress filled him a cup and walked away. Alex waited till she was at a different table then slid over a file to his partner, he opened it up and read through the first few parts of it before looking up at Alex shocked. "Your dad is in on it?" He whispered.

"I've known for awhile but I never had enough proof."

"You know this will put him behind bars, likely for a very long time." Alex only nods in response. "And you're okay with that, you won't end up regretting this?"

"My only regret is that I couldn't do it sooner." Alex said truthfully.

Only a couple weeks had passed and his father was already taken into custody with enough evidence to put him away for life, along with his deputy who was implicated in the crime. Alex couldn't stop picturing his father's face when the DEA came and cuffed him, he must have still believed Alex wasn't apart of the bust when he asked him to find his stash of money and come bail him out. He'd know by now when Alex never showed up that he was wrong, his son was much stronger than he ever thought he could be to take his own father down. Oliver was promoted to the new interim sheriff and he couldn't think of anyone better than Alex to be his deputy, after the big break he handed over to him. Alex knew his partner would make a great sheriff, that's why he gave him the break after all. It was his first day off since becoming Deputy but he went into the station to help Oliver with some leftover paperwork. On his way home he noticed a station wagon ahead parked on the side of the road, as he got closer he heard honking and decided it was best to pull up behind the car and see what was going on. He put his SUV in park and glanced into the car in front of him, it seemed whoever was in the driver's seat was having some kind of fit. Alex leaned over and reached into his glove box pulling out his gun and slipping it into the back of his jeans, he stepped out of his car and threw on his leather jacket before walking towards the car. When he got next to the car he saw two young boys in the back staring at the brown haired woman, they didn't look scared although he wasn't sure why since she was smacking every part of the car she could reach. He knocked on her window causing her to stop and look at him, she didn't blush or look embarrassed at all, she just rolled down her window.

"What?" She said, clearly annoyed with his interruption.

"Are you having car trouble?" Alex asked.

"No, I decided the side of the road in the middle of nowhere was a great place to park." She replied sarcastically. "Of course I'm having car trouble."

"You should have your hazards on."

"Why, is that gonna make my car magically start working again?"

"It's so you don't get hit by other cars."

"If they are on the side of the road they have clearly been drinking too much to be driving anyways so I don't think a couple of flashing lights is gonna stop them."

Alex getting fed up with all the back and forth leaned into her car and pressed the hazard light button. "Try starting it."

"I've tried like ten times already, it's not starting." Norma said and he squinted at her in annoyance.

"Just turn the key, I want to hear how it sounds."

She looked around the car. "Where's the key?"

"You threw it that way." The older boy said, pointing towards the passenger side. She looked over and saw them lying on the floor of the car, she unclipped her seatbelt and climbed over the seat to get them. Alex quickly looked the other way when he saw her bent over, not that he would be opposed to looking, psychotic breakdown or not she is an attractive woman but her kids are in the backseat. Norma grabbed hold of the keys and sat back in her seat, she put them in the ignition and turned the key, the car making little effort to try and start.

"See." She said to him.

"Open your hood." He said and walked around to the front, she reached down and pulled the lever to open it. He looked under the hood a few moments before shutting it and walking back to her window. "It's your belt, it must have snapped."

"Why would it do that? I was driving normal."

"It wears out over time, it's better if you fix it before it breaks."

"A little late for that, I guess."

"Just a bit."

"Do you know how much they cost to fix?"

"It can run between one and two hundred most the time."

Norma exhaled, throwing her hands up into the air dramatically. "Well that's just perfect."

"Do you live close by?" Alex said and pointed towards his SUV. "I have tow ropes, I could tow it to a shop and get you back to your house."

"I'm on my way to Portland, we were gonna stay at a hotel till we found a place to live."

"At the speed I'd have to go while towing that would take hours, I could bring you to a hotel in town that you could stay at till your cars fixed."

"I don't have extra cash right now to fix it."

"We can drop it at the shop and see what they can do, maybe it's less than I think it is."

"If you don't mind."

"I'll pull my car in front of yours, just stay inside." Alex said then walked back to his car and climbed inside, he pulled up in front of her car and parked it. He hopped back out and went to the right side of his car opening the passenger side door and the one right behind it before going back to Norma's door, he looked to make sure no cars were coming then he opened her door. "You and your sons can get in the car already, but have them get out on the right side so they aren't walking in the street."

Norma stepped out and walked to the other side of her car opening the back door and letting both the boys out while Alex went into his trunk and got out his tow ropes. "Give me your hands till we get to his car." She said then took both her sons hands and started walking, behind the SUV Alex crouched down to hook the ropes and his leather jacket hiked up a few inches. Dylan looked at him then suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and pulled Norma and Norman back with him. "Dylan, what are you doing?" She asked and Alex gave a sideways glance back at them, wondering what was going on.

Dylan leaned towards her and whispered, "He has a gun."

Alex watched as her gaze shifted to his lower back, he turned his body a bit to peak behind him to see what she was looking at when he felt his gun shift and realized what they must be staring at. "It's okay, I'm a cop." He said and kept setting up the ropes.

"Funny, most cops don't store their gun there." Norma said, pulling her sons behind her.

"I'm off duty but when I saw someone swinging around like a mad woman in their car I thought it would be safer to have it with."

"You have a badge on you?"

"Seriously?"

"I'm about to put my kids in a car with you, I'd like to be sure you're not some gun toting murderer." Norma said then Alex dropped the ropes to the ground and stood up to face them, he reached into his front coat pocket and grabbed out his badge showing it to her. "Deputy Romero." She read aloud then he closed his badge and shoved it back into his pocket.

"And I never got your name."

"Norma.. Norma Calhoun." She said then both her boys looked at her oddly.

"Missus Calhoun, now that you know I'm not gonna shoot you, go get in the car." Alex said then they got inside his car while he went back to hooking up the tow ropes.

"Why did you say Calhoun?" Dylan said as soon as the car door shut. "Your last name is Bates."

"We can't use our real names, Sam could start looking for us and I don't want anything he could track us down with, we're making a clean break which means we are the Calhoun's now."

"We have to use it too?"

"Yes, it's the only way this will work."

"I don't even know how to spell that."

"You'll learn." Norma said just before the driver side door opened and Alex got inside.

"It's all hooked up, the shops not too far from here so it shouldn't take long." Alex said, starting up the car and pulling back onto the road then taking off towards the town. "So what is in Portland?"

"Huh?" Norma replied.

"You said you were moving to Portland, did you or your husband get a new job there?"

"No, I was going to look for one when I get there, and I'm not married." Norma said and Dylan rolled his eyes, figuring he is flirting with her.

"What line of work do you come from?"

"I was employed independently, the man I worked for had a job with a lot of hours so I'd do the cooking, cleaning and caring of his son."

"What happened that you left?"

"Gee, you writing a book?"

"Nevermind." Alex said then he stopped talking, after a few moments she spoke again.

"I found out he wasn't a very good person and I decided I didn't want to be around someone like him anymore, besides I'm kinda sick of the whole being your own boss thing." Norma said and Alex just nodded. "So where are we anyways?"

"White Pine Bay."

"I have never heard of it before, I only came this way because of a detour."

"It's a small town." Alex told her as they got to main street, she looked around at the town as they drove.

"Looks peaceful here."

"Yeah, looks that way." Alex said, he made a turn and pulled into the auto shop parking lot. "You can stay in the car with your kids, I'll let them know what's going on." He said and hopped out of the car before she had a chance to respond then he unhooked the tow ropes and threw them in the back before walking away. On the way in Norma watched him walking towards the front door when a man purposely ran straight into Alex's shoulder.

"Sorry, deputy." The man said with a sarcastic smile.

Alex quickly turned around and stepped forward getting right the into mans face and making him tense up. "What the hell's your problem?"

"No problem here." He said, stepping back a little.

"If you have something to say to me, say it."

"I don't have anything to say to you."

"Well I'd keep it that way, and watch where you're walking." Alex said then turned away from him.

Inside the car Dylan moved to get a better view of what was going on outside. "Why did that guy run into the cop?"

"I'm not sure, must have been an accident."

"Didn't look like one." Dylan said as Norma watched Alex walk inside and the other man leave, not looking quite as tough as he did a minute before.

"I'm gonna put all our stuff in the back, stay in the car with your brother." Norma said getting out of the car.

Alex walked up to the front desk and Earl the owner of the shop looked over at him. "Deputy, coming to arrest me too?"

Alex stared at him, ignoring the question and moving on. "I have a car that needs a new belt, I just need you to look it over and give me a price."

"Sorry, I've got a full schedule today." Earl said with a chuckle then Alex looked around at the empty shop.

"Doesn't look to be the case."

"There's another shop thirty miles up the road, why don't you give that one a try."

Alex nodded his head then walked over to a car part sitting on the counter, he ran his hand across it then looked back at Earl. "Why don't you find a gap in your busy schedule or I'll start looking into why you are using parts with scratched off serial numbers on them."

"Is that blackmail, deputy?" Earl asked and Alex shot him and intimidating look in return. "Seems you're more like your father everyday."

"Nevermind, I'll take the car somewhere else." Alex said and started to walk away.

"I'll look at it tomorrow if I find the time."

Alex turned around and threw the keys onto the counter in front of him. "If there are any more problems with it tomorrow or any parts missing I'll put your ass behind bars." He added before walking out of the shop. When he got back outside he found Norma putting the last of her stuff into his SUV, she closed his hatchback and walked to her door. "You all ready?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm ready." She said but made no effort to get inside the car. "What happened with that guy when you walked inside, it looked like he wasn't happy with you."

"It was nothing, he wasn't looking where he was going." Alex said walking in front of the car and heading towards his door hoping that would end the conversation.

"Unless he's blind, he saw you."

Alex ignored her comment and got inside, she followed right after getting into her side. "We have a motel that runs about thirty dollars a night, if that gonna be alright for you?" He asked while he put on his seatbelt and started the car.

"That's fine, I have enough to hold us over for a few days till I can start working."

"What about dinner?" Norman asked from the backseat. "You said we could eat when we got to Portland."

"Do they have room service?" Norma asked Alex and he shook his head no in response then she turned back to the boys. "We have enough food in the bags to hold us over till tomorrow, we can make peanut butter sandwiches."

"But I wanted chicken strips."

"We can get them tomorrow, okay sweetie?"

"Okay." Norman said sadly.

Alex glanced back in his mirror at the two young boys, they looked exhausted and restless, probably from the long car ride. "I-ah, I was going to go have dinner at this restaurant we have in town, we could stop there before the motel."

"Really?" Norma asked.

"Yeah, it's right up the road if you want to go."

"Sure, that would be nice." She said and Alex took a right turn into the parking lot.

The four of them walked inside and found their way to a booth at the end of the restaurant, Dylan climbed right into one side and Norma got into the other, quickly followed by Norman taking a seat next to her. Norma and Dylan both picked up a menu and started reading it while Alex stood beside their table.

"I'll be at the table over there, you can let me know whenever you are ready." Alex said, pointing to a small table across the way.

"Are you meeting someone here?" Norma asked.

"No."

"So you are just going to sit at a tiny table and eat all by yourself?"

"I do it all the time."

"That's silly, sit down with us and eat." Norma said and he looked awkwardly at them. "The boys don't drool or throw food around, you'll be fine sitting with us." She said patting on the table, Alex didn't say a word, just took a seat next to Dylan on the booth. Moments after a young waitress came up to their table and smiled at Alex.

"Evening, deputy. What can I get you guys?" She said, grabbing out her pen and notepad.

"Are you ready to order?" Alex asked, looking over at Norma.

"Yeah." Norma said then placed her hand on Normans back. "He'll have the chicken strip meal."

"That comes with cut fries or we just got some fries in that look like smiley faces." The waitress said.

"Oh, I want the smiley faces." Norman replied excitedly.

The waitress smiled at him and wrote it down. "What to drink?"

"Chocolate milk."

"You know what you want Dylan?" Norma asked.

"I'll have the same."

"And you miss?" The waitress asked.

"I'll just have an ice water."

"You aren't getting anything to eat?" Alex asked.

"I'm not very hungry."

"You sure?" Alex asked again and Norma nodde, he turned to the waitress. "I'll just have a turkey club and a water.

"I'll be back with your drinks" She said then walked away.

Norman peeked around the restaurant and noticed a toy crane machine in the corner, he turned to his mom pointing at the machine. "Mother, can I play the toy game?"

"Yeah." Norma said fishing some quarters out of her purse and handing them to him, he got up and took off towards the machine. "Dylan, you want to go play too?"

Dylan glanced over at Alex then back at his mom. "No."

"They have a game too, you don't have to do the toy one."

"I don't want to." He said, his voice laced with attitude.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just don't feel like playing."

"Okay, you don't have to."

Alex looked at them both oddly then stood up. "I'm gonna go wash my hands, I got dirt and stuff on them from the car."

Once he was out of view Norma leaned towards Dylan. "Really Dylan, is something wrong?"

"Why did you invite him to sit at our table?"

"What? Is that what you are acting so weird about?"

"I'm not acting weird."

"What was wrong with inviting him to sit with us?"

"You left your husband yesterday, it's a little too soon to be looking for a replacement."

Norma snorted the air out of her mouth and chuckled. "I invited him to sit with us, I didn't propose to him."

"He is clearly flirting with you."

"He is not flirting with me."

"Did your husband get a new job? No, I'm not married." Dylan mimicked their conversation from earlier.

"That's a conversation, it's how you talk to someone you just met."

"You can't be that naive Norma."

"Trust me, he has no interest in me whatsoever, he's just trying to help."

"I haven't seen him smile once, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy that goes around handing out favors."

"Can we just drop this, he isn't flirting and I'm not interested in a relationship anyways if he was. But like I said, he is not." Norma said as the waitress set down their drinks. "Thank you."

Alex finished washing up then left the bathroom, he was about to go back to their table when he saw Norman at the toy chest machine trying to line up the claw with a stuffed owl below. When he got it where he wanted it he pressed the button dropping it down, it touched the owl but didn't grab a hold of it. He reached into his pocket and searched for another quarter but came up with nothing but lent. "You want the owl?" Alex asked from behind him.

"I'm out of money." Norman said turning back to him, Alex grabbed into his pocket and pulled out a quarter and held it out to him.

"Try again, I'll help you." Alex said then Norman took the quarter from him and put it in the machine. Alex walked to the side of the machine and started to direct him. "Go over towards it.. Now a little bit towards you.. And back to the left a tap.. Drop it there."

Norman pushed the button then the claw moved down and grabbed the owl, picking it up and dropping it into the opening. "I got it!" He squealed excitedly.

"Good job."

Norman pulled the stuffed owl out of the slot then ran back towards their table, Alex following behind him. "Mother, I finally got one!" He said, holding up his owl triumphantly.

"That's great sweetie." Norma said with a big grin.

"The policeman helped me."

"He did?"

"He controlled it, I just told him where to move it." Alex said earning a smile from Norma as he and Norman took their seats.

Shortly after the food arrived Alex even managed to talk Norma into taking half his sandwich, claiming he only ever eats half anyways. Not being one for chit chatting Alex sat quietly while Norma and her younger son did most of the talking to each other, Dylan looking as though he had no interest to anything other than his food.

"Look, I made ketchup squeeze out of his eyes and mouth." Norman said, showing off his smiley fry to everyone at the table.

"Very cute." Norma said then Norman picked it up and bit it, when he was done chewing he looked over at Alex.

"So do you get to shoot bad guys all day?"

"Not all day, but some of the time it's necessary." Alex replied then Dylan spoke without even looking up from his plate.

"You ever kill anyone?"

"Dylan!" Norma hissed.

"What?" Dylan said looking at Norma. "Cops kill people all the time, don't you watch the news."

"We don't ask those kinds of questions."

"Nah, it's okay." Alex cut in. "No Dylan, I haven't killed anyone."

"Like you'd tell us if you did."

"Dylan, knock it off right now or we will leave." Norma said.

"I'm just having a conversation, you're the one who says I don't socialize enough."

"Well this conversation is over, finish eating your food." Norma said then they ate in silence the rest of the time.

They all stood up from the table and collected their things, both the boys already walking to the door. "Are you ready to leave?" Alex said when he noticed Norma standing still.

"I have to pay first." Norma said grabbing her wallet out of her purse.

"It's already covered, I have a tab here."

"No, I can't let you pay for it, you're already doing too much for us."

"I get a discount, it's only a few bucks so I think I'll be fine without it."

"What's your discount?"

"Ten percent." Alex said with an exhale, Norma dug through her purse and pulled out a few bills then handed them over to him. "This is more than what your food costed."

"I added half of your sandwich."

"Of course you did." Alex said shoving the money into his pocket. "After you." He said raising a hand for her to pass then they were on there way, next stop, The Seafairer Motel.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Again a huge thanks to everyone for the feedback, I always love hearing what you have to say. Apologies in advance for how short this chapter is, I normally try to shoot for at least two thousand words but I originally had this outlined as part of chapter two until it got way too long. And one quick side note because I noticed I had wrote the wrong year in the first chapter, this takes place in 2003 not 2002, and I now also know I should proof read my author's notes.

Long sets of stairs lead their way to the top of the hill at The Seafairer Motel where an old victorian house sat, it was one of those places that looked normal in the light of day but at night teens would hurry past it knowing of the rumors it had cultivated over the years. Maybe it was because she always had an old fashioned sense of style but Norma found herself being mesmerized by it, it was a house she always pictured herself living in one day.

Alex turned the keys shutting his car off, he looked over at Norma and gave her a minute to admire the place before speaking up.

"You ready to check in?" He asked, pulling her out of her trance.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Norma said while tossing her seatbelt off of herself and opening her door. The four of them gathered outside the car before Alex lead them into the motel office, he was immediately welcomed with a smile from the woman behind the counter.

"Alex, what brings you here?" She asked with a tint of the head.

"Do you have any rooms open?"

"I have a few, are you looking for a place to stay?"

"No, not me." Alex said then he nodded at Norma, she walked forward and stood beside him. "Maggie, this is Norma. Her and her sons need a room for a few nights while her car gets fixed."

"We can do that." Maggie said grabbing her guest book out of the drawer.

"Is that your house up on the hill?" Norma asked.

"Yes, it is."

"You have a beautiful home."

"Thank you, it's been in my family a long time."

"You live here with your family?"

"My brother lives here too, but he's not home at the time."

"Off at work?"

Maggie exchanged a look with Alex then put on a fake smile. "He's on vacation." Before Norma had a chance to ask anything else she looked down at the book in her hands and opened it to the right page. "If I can just get your ID and form of payment I can get you checked in."

"Ah, yeah, one second." Norma said then grabbed out her walet from her purse, she started digging through it and from the side of her Dylan noticed her take her license out of its place and shove it in the way back behind a bunch of receipts then she shuffled around the walet more to look like she was still searching. "I don't know where I put it, I always keep it in the front pocket."

Alex leaned his head down to try and make eye contact with her but she continued to search, looking at only her walet. "Maybe you put it back in the wrong spot."

"I don't see it anywhere."

"How about I look, sometimes when you're exhausted you can overlook things."

Norma opened her mouth to answer, although she's still not sure of what to say when Dylan cut in. "Are you talking about your driver's license?" He asked and she looked at him, unsure of where he was going with this.

"Yes."

"When we were loading the car I saw it on the counter and I knew you would need it so I put it in one of the bags."

Norma turned and looked towards Alex's SUV, her expression looking as though she was counting the amount of bags in her head before looking back at her son. "Do you remember which one you put it in?"

"No, I don't think so."

"I can just get your name, that should be good enough for now." Maggie said and Norma gave her a smile.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to bring it by after we unpack."

"It's no problem, really."

"The name is Norma Calhoun, Calhoun is C-a-l-h-o-u-n." She spelt it out and Maggie wrote it down.

"And how will you be paying?"

"Cash." Norma said while pulling out a few bills.

"Okay, and how long will you be staying?"

"One night for sure, I'll have to see tomorrow what's going on with my car."

"Alright, for one night your total will be thirty-three dollars and seventy-four cents." Maggie said then Norma sorted through her cash and handed her the total, she turned and grabbed the key for room four and handed it to Norma. "You can let me know tomorrow if you are going to need the room longer."

"Thank you."

"Enjoy your stay Miss Calhoun." Maggie said then the four of them left the office and walked over to room four, Norma unlocked the door and left it open before walking with everyone to Alex's car. She grabbed a couple bags out handing one each to her boys, Dylan lifted his up to carry it and Norman used the wheels on his to bring them into the room. Norma went to grab the rest of their bags and before she could Alex picked up the rest of the duffle bags and a suitcase leaving her with one suitcase and a bag of bedding to carry in.

"I could have gotten those." Norma said, picking up the remaining bags.

"If you wanted a hernia."

"I have years of practice from carrying in fourteen bags of groceries inside at once."

"Never thought of taking two trips?"

"Mothers don't have time to take two trips." She said as they carried the bags to her room.

"There is only one bed, where are we all supposed to sleep?" Dylan said as soon as Norma walked in, the both of them set down the bags on the floor and she looked around the somewhat small room.

"We can share it." Norman said.

"Unlike you I don't like sharing a bed with my mommy."

"It's one night, we'll make do." Norma said.

"I can go see if Maggie's got a rollaway bed not being used, it wouldn't leave you with much room to walk around but you could sleep more comfortably." Alex suggested.

"That would be great, thank you." Norma said then Alex walked out of the room without another word.

"Are you going to ask him to leave after he gets back?" Dylan asked.

"I'm not going to be rude to him Dylan, he's helped us out more than he's had to already."

"Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

Norma rolled her eyes at her oldest sons accusation. "Why don't you and your brother go brush your teeth and get your pajamas on then we can see if this television works."

"We get to watch tv before bed?" Norman asked excitedly.

"Well there isn't much else to do tonight." Norma said then the boys gathered the things they needed and went into the bathroom, not too long after Alex reappeared pushing a bed into the room. "You got one."

"Yeah, last one." He said and put it off to the side of the other bed, leaving room in between the two to walk. "This good?"

"Yup, it's good there." Norma said then he unfolded the bed, a set of sheets, a blanket and a pillow tucked on the inside settled onto the bed. He threw the pillow and blanket onto the big bed then put the sheet on before returning them to the proper spots. "Thank you, you have been a tremendous help to us today, I hope I wasn't keeping you from anything"

"Ah, it was my day off so I didn't have anything to do anyways."

"I would think running around on your day off with someone you barely know would feel like a major pain in the ass."

"Nah, it was just a minimal pain in the ass."

"Most people would reassure someone that it wasn't a big deal, it's nice that you don't."

Alex shrugged at her and she smiled, she stopped when she heard the bathroom door open and the boys walked out with their pajamas on. "Well I'll head out so you guys can get ready for bed. I'll let you know tomorrow if I find out anything about your car."

"Alright, I'll talk to you tomorrow then." Norma said walking with him to the door. "And again, thank you so much for today."

"Bye Missus Calhoun." Alex said then walked out the door, Norma shut it behind him then walked over and sat on the bed with Norman while Dylan took the rollaway. She reached over and grabbed the remote then turned on the television and only static appeared, she flipped a few channels but nothing worked.

"This is a great motel you picked here, Norma." Dylan said and she shot him a glare.

"We can't watch tv?" Norman asked.

"Doesn't look like it's working, there's a VCR, maybe we can find some tapes in here to watch." Norma said standing up and going over to the cupboard around the television and looking inside. "Nope, just cobwebs in there."

"I packed my Lion King movies." Norman said then walked over and grabbed the first one out of his suitcase.

"Great, an hour and a half of singing animals." Dylan said sarcastically.

"You used to love this movie." Norma said, helping Norman put the tape into the player.

"I was three, my brain cells weren't fully formed yet."

"Well they still aren't so maybe you will learn to like it again." Norma said while rewinding the movie, when it was done she pressed play then her and Norman went and snuggled up on their bed. Dylan glanced over at them awhile before getting comfortable on his bed, deciding he might as well watch the movie.

"Do you think dad is still looking for us?" Norman asked randomly while the movie played.

"I don't know, sweetie. But you don't have to worry, he won't find us here."

"Are we ever going to see him again?"

"Do you want to see him?"

"No, I don't think I will want to see him ever again."

"What about you, Dylan?" Norma asked looking over at him.

"He's not my dad."

"But he's been in your life for years now."

"No, I don't want to see him, I never will."

Norma nodded then turned back to the television screen, they continued watching in silence only talking when they had something to say about the film. Neither of the boys were able to make it through the whole movie but Norma was up to shut it off before the static woke them, leaving her in an almost dark room with only the outdoor lights coming in through the window. She never liked when things were quiet like this, it was like giving her thoughts a megaphone. She kept going back and forth on whether she had made the right decision, they had a life in Arizona and a home. Now they had a motel room that she couldn't even afford through the week and a car that didn't even start. All the doubt she had disappeared when she looked over at her sons, their sleep looking as peaceful as she had seen in a long time. Things may not be easy right now but they sure as hell are better than the fear she felt everyday she spent with Sam, the worry that he would kill her and her sons would be left without a mother, or that he would start attacking them too like he had done today. Her eyes finally came to a close and she nodded off into the best sleep she had in years, maybe things would be better now.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Last time I posted a new chapter ended up being the time when Fanfiction decided to have a meltdown so I hope there wasn't too much trouble to you readers. A thank you to anyone that's still sticking around, I'm normally the type of writer who likes to get right to the goods with my stories but I decided I wanted a longer build up. So apologies for any chapters that aren't filled with as much intrigue, it will hopefully be a long ride if I don't bore you before I get to the interesting parts. Let me know what you think!

The first morning of freedom started off great, Norma woke up before the boys giving her a chance to shower, finally being able to wash the road trip off of her. She had time to finish getting ready completely before either of them even stirred and once they both had woken up she helped them get ready for the day.

"What are we going to have for breakfast mother?" Norman asked while pulling his knit sweater on, it wasn't a common look for a seven year old and hell, it wasn't even cold out but he loved to wear them.

"We'll figure that out after we talk to Maggie, I'm gonna see if she's heard anything from Alex about the car and it's not ready I'll get directions to some place in town to eat." Norma said while fixing Norman's hair that had gotten messed up from changing clothes.

"How will we get to town if we don't have a car?" Dylan asked as he sat on his bed, waiting for his brother to finish getting ready.

"We'll walk."

"What? The drive back took us like ten minutes, it will take us forever to get there."

"First off, it took us less than five to get here. And second, it's a beautiful day out, a little walking will do us good. Now get your shoes on." Norma said and both of them put on their shoes without another word before leaving their room. The three of them headed straight for the office and walked inside, Maggie smiled at them and gave a silent morning while she spoke with someone on the phone.

"Alright, I got you down for the last weekend in August, we'll see you then, goodbye." Maggie said then hung up her phone. "Morning, how did you all sleep?"

"Very well." Norma said.

"I got some doughnuts and a fresh pot of coffee out if you'd like some."

"Oh, can we have a doughnut?" Norman asked, eyeballing the platter of them on the table.

"Go ahead." Norma said and both boys rushed over to them picking their favorite and taking a bite.

"Thank you, Maggie." Norman said sweetly, chocolate already lining his lips.

"Thanks, Maggie." Dylan added.

"You're welcome." Maggie said then looked over at Norma. "Something I can help you with Norma?"

"I was actually coming to see if you had heard anything from Deputy Romero about my car?"

"I haven't yet but if you want I can give him a call right now and see if he's got any news on it."

"That would be great."

Maggie picked up the phone and dialed in his number and while it was ringing Maggie pointed at the table beside them. "I have danishes too, help yourself while I call." She said and Norma walked over and started pouring a to go cup and coffee. "Hey Alex, it's Maggie.. I'm good, and you?.. No I don't need any help, I'm calling for Norma, she wanted to know if you had heard anything about her car yet.. Okay, I'll let her know.. Bye Alex." She said then hung up the phone just as Norma finished picking her danish. "He said he called but they aren't gonna have someone to look at it till later today."

"I guess we will be staying another night then." Norma said and went to grab for her walet.

"You can pay me sixteen dollars, you got in so late yesterday so I was only gonna count it as a half day."

"Oh, you don't have to do that."

"It's only fair, besides you have been much better than most the guests I get here."

"Well we haven't even been awake yet so you might want to wait to say that." Norma said jokingly, handing her the bills.

"I'll take my chances, you seem like a trusting bunch."

"Yeah." Norma said and shifted awkwardly. "Well we are going into town and get some groceries that don't have to be refrigerated or cooked, we're in for a lot of beef jerky and bananas."

"You know I have a freezer in my shed, all that's in it is my brothers deer meat so there is plenty of room if you'd like to use it, and anytime the office is open you can use the microwave in here."

"You really are a lifesaver." Norma said gratefully.

"A friend of Alex's is a friend of mine."

"I actually don't know him well, we just met yesterday when I was having the car troubles."

"Oh, by the way he was acting around you I figured you were an old friend. Normally he's so quiet and keeps to himself."

"Well we went out to dinner with him but he only offered because he was going anyways and the boys were starving from the drive, must have warmed up to us then."

"There are people in this town he's known since we were kids that he still hasn't warmed up to so it says something good about you that he already did."

Norma nervously tucked her hair behind her ear, thinking great, more ammo for Dylan to use. "Since we don't actually know him you don't have to let us use your stuff."

"Oh nonsense, like I said you seem trustworthy enough. Besides all that's in that old shed is fishing gear which I'd happily have stolen, I always get caught up in the fishing wire."

"That is going to help us out so much, thank you." Norma said with a sweet smile. "We're gonna walk into town, what's the best way to get to the grocery store?"

"The quickest way would be a right out of here, then there is a walking trail off the highway that takes you most the way. Once you get off it go straight and you'll hit the town in a few blocks."

"Thanks." Norma said then her and the boys were on their way, her hand intertwined with Normans. The walking trail popped up almost immediately and although Norma didn't feel too great about walking her sons through a stretch of woods in an unknown town she knew Maggie wouldn't send them in a way that wasn't safe.

"Why does she trust us?" Dylan asked as he picked up a twig and started breaking pieces off to throw as they walked. "I mean we only talked to her for like five minutes yesterday and we lied to her the whole time."

"Dylan, keep it down." Norma said, shushing him.

"No one is going to hear us, we are on a dirt road to nowhere."

"She trust us because besides lying about who we really are we are good people."

"How are we good people if we are lying?"

"Because we are lying to protect each other and that is what makes us good."

"How long are we going to have to pretend for?"

"I don't know, once I know that Sam isn't a threat anymore we can go back to being ourselves."

"And what if he never stops being a threat?"

"Then we keep hiding, people do it all the time. Think of all the criminals they never find, and we are much smarter than any of them." Norma said then they continued walking quietly awhile till they came up next to a bench, Norman broke free from Norma's grasp and ran towards it, picking up something colorful off the ground.

"Oh, cool, I found a toy." Norman said holding it up for them to see.

"Norman, put that down right now." Norma said in a stern tone.

"Why?"

Dylan grabbed it from his hands and looked at it. "Is this a pipe?"

"Dylan!" Norma said and reached over pulling the object out of his hands. "Don't touch it.. And how do you know what a pipe is?"

"I watch television."

"What's a pipe?" Norman asked innocently. "And why does it smell funny?"

"It's something you are never going to use, either of you." Norma said shoving it into the outside pocket on her purse.

"Oh but you get to use it?" Dylan said.

"I'm not going to use it, I'm taking it so some other kid doesn't come along and try to use it." She said while grabbing a few wet wipes out of her bag. "Here, wipe your hands good."

Both boys took a wipe and they were back on their way, it took a good fifteen minutes before they got into town and found the grocery store. Norma picked out several easy meals to make them and after some convincing a few candy bars for later. Once they were back at the motel they made lunch easy and had some peanut butter sandwiches and chips then the boys played the battleship game Norman had packed in their toy bag. After a few games they both started to get restless and asked Norma if they could go outside to play catch, not wanting them to be out alone she agreed to go sit on the porch while they played. She sat in an uncomfortable patio chair and watched them smile as they threw their foam football back and forth, she had brought a crossword book she found left in the motel room and was working on it.

"Mother." Norman said between breaths clearly exhausted from running around after the ball. "Can we go play on the swings?"

Norma glanced over and the swingset that was across the yard. "Yeah, just stay away from the street." As soon as the words left her mouth they took off running towards them, she made sure to look over at them every few seconds to make sure they were okay but each time they were swinging, by the looks of it they were trying to see who could go the highest. Not too long after a sheriff's vehicle pulled up into the driveway, her heart started to race till she noticed Alex in the driver's seat. He parked right near her room before getting out and walking towards her, still in his uniform.

"And I thought you looked intimidating before." Norma said while looking him over.

Alex ignored her comment at looked over at the boys who were swinging calmer now and casting looks back at the two of them. "Aren't they dressed a little too much for this weather?" He said, referring to their sweatshirts.

"They are used to much warmer temperatures than this."

"Oh yeah, I never asked where you were moving from?"

Norma paused a second to think. "California, near Bakersfield." She said, remembering the gas being the cheapest when they drove near that city, figuring she might as well make her fake home more believable.

"You don't seem like the California type of person."

"Yeah, the people there didn't think so either, that's why we never got invited to any of the pool parties." Norma said with a smile, hoping he was buying it before changing the subject. "Oh, I got something for you." She said then went into her purse and grabbed out the pipe they found earlier, handing it to him.

He looked at it oddly then back at her. "You know this is a terrible gift to give to a police officer."

"It's not a gift, me and the boys found it while we were walking on the trails to the store. I didn't want some young kid finding it and using it."

"Well thanks for getting it to me, I'll put it with all the other ones we've confiscated when I get to the station."

"And you should do something about people smoking on those trails, this is a nice little town and they are gonna ruin the image."

Alex nodded while shoving the pipe into his chest pocket. "Yeah, I'll get on that too."

"So Deputy Romero, what do I owe this visit to?"

"I just spoke to the mechanic about your car-"

"Oh, you didn't have to come all the way out here just to tell me about it, you could have called Maggie to give me a message."

"I'm on my way to work so it really wasn't out of the way."

"So what did they say?"

"He told me he could fix it for one-seventy."

Norma exhaled and put her hand to her forehead. "Great, just perfect."

"Do you not have enough?"

"I don't even have enough for the rest of the week here."

"Do you have any credit cards you could put it on? Or someone who could borrow it to you?"

"No, my credit is too bad for credit cards and all the people I know live states away." Norma looked over at her sons then rubbed her eyes, trying to hide the fact that tears were forming in them. "I don't know what I'm going to do." She said and Alex stared at her a moment then she looked up at him. "Sorry, this isn't your problem. Thank you for coming out here and letting me know."

"I can give you the money to pay for it." Alex said, knowing how crazy the offer was the second it left his mouth, they were practically strangers after all.

"No, no, I could never accept that." She said shaking her head. "I appreciate the offer though."

Alex nodded and kicked around the gravel at his feet awkwardly. "Well I should get back to work, sorry I didn't have better news." He started walking away then turned back. "If in a few days you have hit a complete dead end let me know, I know you're a proud person but sometimes you have to accept somebody else's help."

Norma smiled while he walked towards his car then opened the crossword book back up for a second before looking back at him. "Hey Deputy, what's a five letter word for giving gratitude?"

He opened his car door and looked back at her. "You're welcome, Miss Calhoun." He said before getting in his car and driving off. She now hated that he called her by that name, it was just a reminder that she was lying to him. She stopped and thought for a moment, why did she care that she was lying to him? She never had a problem with lying in the past, even to her husband. She shook off the thought and went back to her crosswords, but her mind kept drifting back to the man who had drove off out of sight already.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: As always I wanna give a big thank you to all the readers for your continued support and all the awesome feedback you've been giving. Hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think!

Change was a strange thing, sometimes it was awful, take yesterday's dinner for instance. Normally Norma would take hours making her famous turkey pot pie, both her sons favorite meal of all time. But since they were now in a small motel room with only a microwave as a source for cooking they had to settle for small generic turkey pot pies that tastes like gravy and stale bread. Both boys complained that they were nothing like the homemade ones but ate them anyways, keeping a look of disgust on their faces the whole time. Then there was the change that made you feel good, like last night when Norma was going through her bags and found the box of hair dye she had bought months before, the one Sam told her she wasn't allowed to use because he didn't want her looking like some dumb blonde. She set the boys up with their movie and went to the bathroom giving her hair a trim to shoulder length before dying it the light blonde she had always wanted. It felt like a small victory for her to go against Sam, she couldn't believe how long she allowed him to control her.

Today however she did not wake as well as she had fallen asleep, Norman started coughing not long after going to bed and had continued into the morning disrupting all of their rest. After he coughed through the breakfast they ate in the motel office with Maggie she decided he was gonna need some cough syrup, Maggie suggested the boys stay in the motel room and she'd check on them while Norma went into town. Norma gratefully took her up on the offer, not wanting Norman to have to walk across town while he was so sick.

Over at the police station Alex and Oliver got called to the local grocery store, being told that several different prescriptions had gone missing from the pharmacy overnight.

"Who was the last person in here before you closed the gates down Mister Mccall?" Oliver asked the pharmacy manager while Alex walked around searching for any clues to who had broken in.

"I was, I closed everything down."

"If you closed up then why are you here now, closing was six hours ago." Alex said from across the room.

"I'm not supposed to be in till later but when my assistant manager Lynn opened up and noticed what had happened so she called me, I thought it was only right for me to be here to talk with you."

"Where is your assistant now?" Oliver asked and the man pointed to a tall brunette sitting on a bench near them.

Alex nodded, signalling Oliver to go over and talk to the woman while he handled the manager. Oliver left them and Alex walked up behind the man, making him turn around to face him. "Around what time did you have everything locked up by?"

"I brought the gate down at nine like always and I was out of here eighteen minutes later."

"And you just know the exact time you left off hand?"

"Well not normally I wouldn't, but yesterday I got out of here much earlier than most days."

"And why's that?"

"I didn't have much left to do, Lynn took care of most everything during her shift and once I got in we had a slow night."

"How long have you been working here?"

Mccall tilted his hand to the side and let out a gust of air through his nose. "I'm sorry, is this an interrogation?"

"I asked how long?"

"Twenty-six years, I was around filling your mothers prescriptions."

Alex took a quick step forward towards him. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"No, I'm just making it known that I've been here a long time and I've never done anything to warrant the behavior you are using towards me. I came in when I wasn't even needed to make sure this got handled."

Oliver walked back over, taking in their close vicinity. "Everything alright over here, Romero?"

"Yeah." Alex said taking a step away from him and heading towards the prescription bins. "Which drugs were taken?"

Mccall walked over and grabbed his clipboard, flipping through the papers as he read them off. "Hydrocodone, Vicodin, Demerol and Oxycodone."

"All opioids." Oliver said to Alex. "They must be intended for use or why not steal all the other drugs."

"This is a small town, is it common to have that many strong painkillers filled at once?" Alex asked Mccall.

"Not usually, I don't think we get that many in a week most the time."

"And why wouldn't the thief just take the bottles of drugs, why take the prescriptions?"

"We take inventory every night, making sure both the correct amount of bottles are stocked and the pills inside them. The prescriptions are not counted in this, those types of drugs can stay up to five days in the bin if unclaimed."

"And when were all those prescriptions filled?"

"Each one was filled four days ago, I wouldn't have noticed till tomorrow's inventory but someone came in this morning to pick up their Oxycodone and that's when Lynn saw it missing and looked into what else was gone."

"So they could have been missing the last four days without anyone knowing?"

"It's possible."

"We're gonna need copies of every prescription that went missing along with a list of every employee and their contact information." Oliver told Mccall.

"I'll get those together for you." He said then walked off.

"What was going on when I got back over here?" Oliver asked.

"It was nothing."

Oliver glanced back to make sure he was out of sight. "You think he was involved?"

"It doesn't seem like it, he wasn't giving off any indication that he was lying."

"If you didn't see anything off he must have been telling the truth, you're basically a walking lie detector. I'm gonna have forensics come in and dust for prints, although I get the feeling they aren't going to find anything. Something about this is different than your average drug robbery, the thief is smart."

"Here is everything you asked for." Mccall said, handing Oliver a stack of papers and his business card. "And if you need anymore information you can give me a call, I work four till close so you'll have to stop by if you need anything then."

"Thank you for all your cooperation." Oliver said then him and Alex started walking off, Alex stopped when he noticed someone in the distance.

"I'll catch up with you." Alex said, patting his partner on the shoulder then walking toward the cold medicine aisle.

Once Norma got to the store she found a can of chicken soup, a pack of Norman's favorite apple juices to help moisten his throat, and was now reading a box of grape flavored cough syrup when she heard a familiar voice.

"Yesterday you gave me a pipe and now you are here buying cough syrup, should I be worried about the route you are going down?" Alex joked, walking up beside her.

"Norman has a cold, he kept us all up half the night coughing." Norma said while looking at him, taking note of his uniform. "You cutting out on work?"

"I'm actually on a call right now."

"What, the townspeople start a riot in the breakfast aisle when they noticed a shortage of maple syrup?"

"You really think you have this town pegged down already, don't you?"

"It's just hard to imagine anything bad happening in a place like this." Alex glanced away at the pharmacy he just left and chuckled slightly, when he looked back at her his eyes shifted around her face. "What?" She asked.

"You changed your hair."

"You noticed." Norma said in a shocked tone, running her hand through it.

"It's kind of obvious since you had a different color last time I saw you."

"Guys don't usually notice those kinds of things, my husband never would have-"

"Husband?" Alex said quickly and Norma paused.

"Ex-husband."

"I thought you weren't married."

"I'm not, I was married to Dylan's father a long time ago."

"Just Dylan's father, does Norman have a different dad?"

"Yeah, they're half brothers."

"And what happened to Norman's father?"

Norma recognized the tone he was now using, it was the interrogating cop voice, the same one he used when they had first met a couple days before. "He wasn't interested in being apart of me or Norman's life, I haven't seen him since the day I told him I was pregnant."

"He doesn't pay child support?"

"No, I never asked him to."

"It's his responsibility to help you whether he's in Norman's life or not."

"I don't want his help." Norma said somewhat loudly, not caring that there was now someone standing in the aisle with them.

Alex looked over at them and nodded, once they left he looked back at Norma. "You're living in a motel with two kids and you can't even afford to fix your car."

"I do not need his help, I have never needed anybody's help. My boys have a roof over their heads and they always have, and you have no right to judge me when you don't even know me."

"I'm not judging you."

"Sure sounds like it." She said, crossing her arms the best she could while holding her basket.

"I just meant that his money would be beneficial, you wouldn't have to do everything on your own."

"So now you are saying you don't think I can handle doing things on my own?"

Alex went to speak again then paused, looking at her with squinted eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"What?" Norma said, shocked by what he might be implying.

"I've dealt with a lot of people who are hiding something, they tend to throw my words back at me to keep the attention off of them."

"I'm not hiding anything." Norma said, hoping she sounded convincing enough. Normally she wouldn't doubt her manipulative powers but with the way he was looking at her she felt like he could see right through every lie she told. "And I don't like the assumption that I am because you don't know how to respond when someone calls you out for belittling them."

"I wasn't belittling you, you're spinning my words."

"I need to get back to the motel, I told Maggie I'd hurry." Norma said turning around, Alex stood quietly letting her walk away without saying anymore.

Once back at the motel Norma walked towards her room when Maggie came out of the office. "I was just about to check on them, I was in ten minutes ago. Norman was napping and Dylan was reading a magazine."

"Thank you for keeping an eye on them." Norma said, looking towards her room instead of at Maggie.

"Something wrong?"

"No, just tired from all the noise last night."

"You sure? Nothing happened on the way to the store, did it?"

Norma looked at her and shook her head. "No, what could happen on the way there?"

"Well sometimes we get young punks in those woods, smoking and bothering women. Nothing alarming, just catcalls and stupid flirting."

"I didn't see anyone either way, honestly I'm just upset because I ran into Romero at the store and he was being an ass."

"He was being rude to you?"

"He kept telling me I could use help with my sons, but I've done just fine raising them all by myself so I'm not really okay with being told what I should and shouldn't do by someone I don't even know."

"I agree he shouldn't have been saying that kind of stuff to you but I wouldn't take anything he said the wrong way, he only means well. He likes to protect people, it's in his nature." Maggie explained, calming Norma down a bit. "He's one of the good guys, maybe the only good guy."

Norma smiled slightly, she knew Maggie was right. Afterall it was stupid to be mad at him, especially since he was dead on, she was lying to him in more ways than one. "I should go check on Norman, get him to take his medicine."

"Alright, and they told me about the cable being out in your room, I'll make sure to get that fixed as soon as possible."

"They will be very happy to hear about that, thank you." Norma said with a smile before walking into their room. Once she shut the door behind her Dylan sat up on his bed and set his magazine aside.

"What took you so long?" He asked quietly when she walked near him.

"What so you mean? I had to walk there and back."

"You were gone almost an hour, it isn't that long of a walk."

Norma noticed the concern in his voice and smirked at him. "Were you worried about me?"

"No." Dylan said quickly like he had been accused of something awful. "I just think the sooner Norman gets his medicine the better, he's been coughing the whole time."

"Ah ha." Norma said and sat down on the bed next to Norman with the bottle of cough syrup in one hand, gently rubbing his arm with the other. "Norman, sweetie, wake up a second, you have to take your medicine." She said then Norman's eyes tiredly opened and he looked up at her.

"Did you get the grape flavor?" He asked and she nodded, showing him the bottle before filling up the measuring cup for him. She pressed the cup on his lower lips and he opened his mouth while she tipped it forward to give him every bit of it.

"Are you still sleepy?"

"Yes."

"How about you sleep more and I'll wake you up when it's time for lunch." Norma said and he nodded in response, she lifted his blanket up and covered him back up then he drifted right back to sleep. Once he was out she stood up and went over to the dresser, grabbing a newspaper off of it and opening it to a specific page.

"What are you doing?" Dylan asked while she circled a few things with a pen.

"I'm looking for people who need temporary services, the only way we are going to be able to get out of this town is to get some cash. I don't want to spend anymore time than we need to here."

"Why not? It seems nice enough here and I don't think any other motel is going to help us out the way Maggie has."

"Because Dylan, I'm not supposed to be making friends with the people we are lying to, they could start to find out then."

"So you aren't going to have any friends ever again? That's crazy."

"All I have really ever had was you and Norman, and that's all I'll ever need." Norma said then looked down at the newspaper again. "Now what do you think, am I more of a fish cleaner or a birthday clown?"

Dylan smiled and grabbed his magazine back off the nightstand, laying back down. "I'd keep looking."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to the sweet peeps who continue to read this fic and to those of have given such kind feedback! And to the reviewer who was worried I had given up on this fear not, I still have the ambition to keep this going for awhile as long as there is still an appetite for it. This chapter is gonna cover the beginning of a big case for Alex that I'll be exploring over the course of this story, sorry for the small portion of Normero in this one but things will be picking up soon enough. I hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think!

Alex spent the rest of his work day going over their new case and still there were no leads on who stole the prescription painkillers from the pharmacy or even when they might have. No fingerprints were found at the scene and the store happened to have had technical problems lately and all video surveillance was wiped from their systems. He spoke to the gentlemen who took four days to pick up his medicine thinking that might lead him to someone but it turned out the guy called it in just before he had to be admitted to the hospital, he had just gotten back home the night before. As for the other stolen drugs there was no actual real people who had filled them, all fake names and the doctors that signed them didn't even exist. Every employee was brought into the station and everyone checked out, the most recent new hire being from over two years ago.

He sat on a chair in Oliver's office, focusing on the files they had made up. Picking through every bit of information with a fine tooth comb, getting pulled out of his trance by a coffee cup being set in front of his on the desk.

"What do you think you are going to find in that file that you haven't in the last hour and a half." Oliver asked, taking a seat in his desk chair.

"Anything that will give me a clue to who did this, they couldn't have possible thought of everything." Alex said, closing the file and tossing it onto the desk. "What are we missing?"

"I don't think we are missing anything, it's like whoever did this knew what we would look for."

"Are you thinking one of our own guys were involved?"

"You know better than anyone what kind of law enforcement we had in this town, maybe there are still officers leftover from your dad's setup."

Alex thought to himself for a moment, he was more thorough with the drug trade case than any other he had worked on. "No, I know I got every crooked cop on the payroll. But what if it wasn't someone leftover, what if whoever did this went through someone we already put away."

"Like your father?"

"I wouldn't doubt his capability to keep his work going from behind bars, he always knew the best ways to get around the law."

"I can call into the facility, get a list of visitors he's had but I'll probably need more than a hunch to get them to hand it over."

"I'll find something." Alex said, reaching for the file.

"We can do this all tomorrow, your shift has been over for hours now."

"I'm fine with staying longer."

"Yes, you are. I however would like to go home and have a warm meal for once, Krista is making a roasted chicken and you know how good those turn out."

"Alright, but I'm taking the files with me." Alex said, standing up and gathering everything into one pile.

"But first you're gonna go out to Seafairer, Maggie called earlier while you were talking to one of the technicians and asked if you could stop by."

"Did she say why?"

"Something about a guests cable being out and the need to apologize for being an ass earlier, I assume you know what she means." Oliver said with a sly grin. "Although if you are going to start apologizing for that you might as well get mine out of the way right now."

"Yeah, don't count on that happening anytime soon."

"So what did you do to her anyways?"

"It wasn't her, it was a guest that's staying at the motel."

"Not enough people left in this town to piss off so now you're going for the tourists?"

"I didn't mean to, she took what I was saying the wrong way."

"She?" Oliver said, a wide smile forming on his face.

"Weren't you going home to have chicken?"

"Yes, but don't think this conversation is over." Oliver said, standing up and grabbing his coat off the rack. As he was about to put it on there was a knock at the door. "Come in." He shouted then Chloe walked inside.

"There's a couple here asking to talk to you, they are saying that their son might be missing." She said and the guys shared a glance before Oliver put his coat back.

"Send them in." Oliver said and she left, returning a moment later with them. "Come on in, have a seat." He said, leading them into the room. They both took a seat across from Oliver and Alex stood in the corner near the desk. "I've been told your son may have went missing."

"Yes." The mother said, already getting choked up.

The father reached over and grabbed his wives hand, squeezing it gently. "He was going on a camping trip with his friends Friday afternoon, they were coming back today but when he never came home we called and asked if they were back yet. His friend told me that he never showed up to go with them, he just assumed he got grounded again and couldn't come."

"How old is your son?" Oliver asked, grabbing out a paper and pen to take notes.

"He just turned sixteen last week."

"And what's his full name?"

"Riley Kendall Jacobson."

"Okay, mister and missus Jacobson, I'm gonna need you to give me as much information possible about the day your son went missing. What time he left the house, what he was wearing, what way he would have taken."

"He left our house right after dinner which would have been around five-thirty, he was wearing the new shirt we got him for his birthday, he loves that Mortal Kombat video game so we got him a black shirt with the logo on it. He only ever wears blue jeans, and he has black and white nike shoes." Missus Jacobson managed to stutter out.

"Our house is on Park and his friend Ian lives on Seventh, they were meeting there." Mister Jacobson said.

Alex counted the streets in his head. "So that's about nine blocks apart, do you know of any shortcuts your son takes there?"

"He uses the sidewalks the whole way, he has a skateboard so it doesn't take him long to get there."

"What's on the skateboard and what all did he have with him when he left?" Oliver asked.

"It's a red and black checkered pattern and he had his black backpack with stuff for the trip, I'm not sure what all he packed."

"Do you have a recent picture with you?"

"Yes." Missus Jacobson said, pulling a photo out of her purse and handing it to Oliver.

He looked closely at the boy in the photo, he had light brown hair and blue eyes with a big smile planted on his face, likely because of all the birthday gifts surrounding him. "Did your son-" He paused, trying to think of the best way to word it. "Had he been acting different lately? Did he seem depressed or upset about anything going on at home?"

"No." Mister Jacobson said immediately. "He's always been a happy kid."

Alex watched Oliver trying to figure out why he seemed so uncomfortable then he noticed him glance at the files he left on the table, he stepped closer to the parents. "Did Riley have any signs of drug use?"

"He spoke with me once about trying marijuana with a few of his friends but it made him sick and he didn't want to do it again." Missus Jacobson replied.

"But this is White Pine Bay so it's not out of the ordinary for that stuff to happen." Mister Jacobson said.

"Did he have any recent injuries?" Alex asked.

"He broke his arm a few months back when he fell off his skateboard."

"Did the doctor prescribe him any painkillers?"

"They offered but Riley said no, he said it didn't hurt that badly." Missus Jacobson said.

"What does this have to do with my son going missing?" Mister Jacobson asked.

"We just have to cover everything." Oliver said. "Have you contacted all of his close friends or any other family members in the area?"

"Yes, we spoke to everyone already, none of them have heard from him."

"And what's your sons height and weight?"

"He's five foot eight and weighs about one-forty."

"Okay, Mister and Missus Jacobson, what we are going to do tonight is put an alert out for your son since it's now been two days since his disappearance. I'm gonna have a group of my officers searching the areas between your house and his friends and any other places he might be. We will keep in contact with you whether we've found anything or not and if you happen to think of anything that could help us I want you to call me immediately."

Over the next few hours Oliver, Alex and a large portion of the department worked on finding the Jacobson's son. With no luck locating him or any of his belongings the team started to slim down till it was Oliver and Alex left walking through the nearby woods with flashlights.

"I think we've combed every inch of this place." Oliver said, while Alex kicked aside branches. "This makes no sense, why would a kid like Riley go missing for no reason."

"There's always a reason, we just haven't found it yet."

"I'm going to head home and I'll give the Jacobson's another call in the morning, I will have a few officers patrol the area overnight."

"I'm gonna keep looking."

"No Alex, go home. There's nothing more we can do tonight, tomorrow is gonna be another long day so you need to go home and get some sleep."

Alex rubbed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion but not wanting to stop. He knew Oliver was right though, it was two in the morning now and there really wasn't anywhere else they could look tonight. "Okay, yeah."

"I'll give you a ride home then we can meet at the office at nine." Oliver said as they walked toward the squad car.

Sleep didn't come easy for Alex that night, he was lucky if he could fall asleep for more than five minutes at a time. He'd dealt with a lot of things working in this kind of town but a missing kid was new, it's not like it was the first time it had ever happened there but it was the first time he had to be the one to handle it. When the sun started to show through his curtains he decided to give up on getting anymore rest and get ready for the day, being finished and ready to head out the door by seven am. He knew most everything was still closed so there was no use in going into the office yet but he got in his car to go anyways. On the way he started to come up on the motel, suddenly remembering Oliver telling him about Maggie asking if he would come by to fix the cable. Deciding to get it out of the way while he had the time he pulled up next to the motel office and went inside.

"Morning Alex." Maggie greeted with a smile.

"Morning Maggie, sorry I couldn't get out here last night, I had to work late."

"I figured, I just read in the paper about the missing boy, that's awful."

"Yeah." Alex said, shifting awkwardly. "So Oliver said the cable's out?"

"Just in one room, and I called to have someone come out but they said it wouldn't be till next week."

"That's what happens when you get your cable from a company that also covers pest control."

"Joys of being in a small town." Maggie joked. "I'm not sure if Norma's awake yet but you can knock at the door and check."

"Norma?" Alex asked, feeling a little uneasy about seeing her after yesterday. "It's in her room?"

"Yeah, poor Norman is sick with a cold and he hasn't had anything to do besides rewatch the same two movies, which Norma said he's fine with but it's driving her and Dylan insane at this point."

"Okay, I'll uh, go check and see if she's up." Alex said. He left the office at headed towards her room, stopping at his car to grab his tools before walking up to her door. He knocked as gently as possible, part of him was hoping she was still asleep so he wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness but part of him wanted to get it over with already. Just when he was about to give up and turn around the door opened, he looked over Norma who was still dressed in her nightgown, pulling her robe shut and tying it.

Norma squinted her eyes, partly because the morning sun was bothering them and partly because of confusion to why he was standing at her door at seven in the morning. "What are you doing here?"

He glanced down at his tools, lifting them up a bit to show her. "I'm here to fix the cable, unless this isn't a good time."

"Um, yeah, sure, come inside." Norma said, opening the door for him to walk in.

Alex stepped inside and she shut the door behind him, he looked over and noticed both boys still sleeping on their beds. "Aren't I going to bother them working while they're sleeping?"

"Oh no, they could sleep through anything." Norma said, waving a hand toward them. Alex nodded then found the television, starting to look for a cause to why it wasn't working correctly. "I didn't realize you were also the towns repairman."

"I'm not." Alex said while gently moving the television stand out to get behind it, Norma walked over and took a seat on the end of her bed so she could see him while they talked. "Maggie's brother Keith usually does all the repairs to the motel but since he's been gone I've been helping her out, she doesn't have the money to hire an actual handyman."

"But I'm sure she pays you in some other way." Norma joked with a smirk on her face and Alex looked back at her seriously.

"It's not like that at all, she's like a little sister to me."

"I get the feeling she doesn't think of you the same way."

"We've known each other since we were kids, I was good friends with her brother and Maggie didn't really have friends of her own so Keith would let her tag along places with us." Alex explained while he continued working. "She used to have an act of getting in trouble, nothing too big just shoplifting or stupid pranks so I'd get my dad to cover things up. We didn't want her to get caught by her parents, they weren't the type of people that would have reacted well."

"That was awfully nice of you to help her like that."

"Well I just wanted to protect her and she kinda got the wrong idea about it, but she's known a long time now that I don't feel that way about her."

"You don't think you'll ever change your mind?"

Alex shook his head. "Would you ever feel that way about your siblings?"

Norma ran her hand across her thigh without thinking, luckily her scar was covered or he might have asked about it. "I don't have siblings and I never really had anyone I thought of like one, but I could imagine that would be pretty strange."

Alex looked back at the wall where he had opened up the cable line casing, he grabbed out one of the cable cords and showed her it. "This might be the problem." He said, referring to the wear on the cable which caused it to split slightly.

"Is it easy to fix?"

"Yeah, you mind handing me my needle nose pliers and the wire cutter?" Alex asked and Norma found both tools then handed them over to him. "It's good they leave extra length in here because all I need to do is cut the broken part off then attach the end back on."

Norma watched as he did what he had explained. "Deputy Romero?"

"Yeah." Alex said while he reattached the casing.

"I'm sorry about snapping at you yesterday, I was tired and I know you were only trying to help."

"It's no problem, I was actually going to apologize about overstepping and being, what did Maggie call it." He paused, pretending to think about it. "An ass."

Norma smiled. "She told you about that?"

"Actually she told my partner about it who then told me, so everyone is now aware that I'm an ass."

"I would think they already knew that."

Alex smiled shaking his head at her while he stood up and put the television stand back in place. "Give it a try so I can see if that worked."

"Okay." Norma said then grabbed the remote, it did a quick channel search before turning on to one of the channels. "It's a miracle."

"Not really."

"Thank you." Norma said gratefully.

Alex nodded at her then looked towards the boys who were still sound asleep. "Can you not take this as overstepping when I ask if you could keep Dylan and Norman inside today?"

"Why?" Norma asked curiously.

"Yesterday we found out a sixteen year old boy went missing in town on Friday, no one has seen him since."

"Oh my god." Norma said, looking back at her own boys.

"We don't know if someone took him or he just wandered off somewhere without telling anyone, but until we know were asking all parents to keep a close eye on their children."

"Of course, I won't leave their sides till we hear more. Thank you for letting me know."

"I'm gonna get to work, we have a lot more to do today."

"Yeah, and let me know when you find him."

"I will." Alex said, gathering up his tools. "See you later Miss Calhoun." He said then left her room, while he was walking to the car Maggie came outside carrying fresh towels.

"You get it fixed?" She asked as he was opening his car door.

"Yeah, it's all set."

"Thank you, you're always a great help."

She started to walk away and Alex closed his door and stepped toward her. "Hey Maggie?"

"Yeah?" She said, stopping in place and turning back to him.

"Do you ever think about getting some extra help around the motel? Just to alleviate some of the work till Keith gets back, otherwise you might get overworked with running everything on your own."

"I really wish I could, but you know I can't really afford to hire a new person on unless they were willing to work for next to nothing."

"What about Norma?" Alex asked, gesturing toward her room. "You could let her stay here free and pay her the difference. I know she has experience, she worked as a caretaker before she moved here."

Maggie smiled at him, laughing softly. "You seem to like taking care of her."

"I'm not taking care of her, I'm just saying that arrangement could help you both. She could save up to fix her car so she can go to Portland and you could have cheap help around here till Keith gets back."

"Okay, whatever you say. I'll ask her next time I see her, it would be nice to have help again."

They both said their goodbyes then Alex was on his way to the office, he wasn't looking forward to today and what they might uncover but there was a family out there missing their child and they needed to get answers to why.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I'm gonna put this out there now, this is a pretty lame update. What's in the chapter I had planned to be placed into other chapters as filler but it just worked out better to throw it into this one, so it will be shorter than most and there isn't any Normero interactions in it. Hopefully the next chapter will make up for it, I have a part that was a lot of fun to write and I'm really looking forward to sharing it, but for now please enjoy these little scraps.

Norma laid on the bed watching her sons while they slept, she couldn't imagine what it would be like had one of them gone missing. One thing's for sure, she knows she would be a wreck the whole time. Norman began to stir next to her, his arms stretched out over his head before he opened his eyes slowly and looked over at her.

Norma reached over a hand and ran it through his hair, giving him a smile. "You feeling any better sweetie?"

He nodded and turned to face her. "My throats still a little sore but the cough went away."

"That's great." She said with a weak smile.

"Is something wrong mother?"

"No, everything is good. I'm just thinking about how nice it is to have you and Dylan in my life, I don't know what I'd do without you two."

"You'll never be without us, we are going to be together forever."

"Yes, we will." Norma said then she pulled her hand away from him and sat up some. "Are you hungry yet?"

"Yeah, very."

"How about you wake up your brother and we'll go make those packs of mini pancakes for breakfast."

"Okay." Norman said with a big smile, hopping up from the bed and going over to wake up his brother. It took a bit of work but he finally got him on his feet, they all sled their shoes on before going outside.

"Here, take my hand while we go to the shed." Norma said, grabbing each of their hands.

"The shed is like fifty feet away, do we really need to hold hands?" Dylan asked, still half asleep or he might have put up more of a fight.

"It isn't uncool to hold your moms hand once in awhile." Norma said, walking them into the shed. She let go of their hands to grab out the box of pancakes and handed it to Norman to carry before taking their hands back. She held onto them again till they made it safely into the office. "Morning." Norma said, greeting Maggie.

"Morning, you coming in for some breakfast?" Maggie asked.

Norman held up his box showing it off to her. "We got mini pancakes."

"Now if they would have had those when I was growing up I wouldn't have had to eat so much cereal."

Norma took the box from Norman and opened it then placed three bags into the microwave. "You want any?" She said, turning back to Maggie.

"No, thank you." She replied. "I was actually going to ask you something."

"Shoot." Norma said, turning back to face her.

"I was thinking that with my brother out of town I have a lot of work here to do on my own, and Alex told me how you had experience, if you wanted a job here. I could use help with the front desk and housekeeping if that's what you're looking for, I couldn't pay you much but you could stay free in your room."

"I don't know, I mean I'm still planning to live in Portland. I wouldn't want to take the job then leave you with no help a few weeks later."

"It wouldn't be a big deal, I've been doing everything on my own for months now. This could be temporary so you could save up money and I can get a little bit of a break."

"It's just, it's not really what I'm looking for, I'm trying to get something more independent."

"I understand completely, that's how I like to work too." Maggie said then the microwave beeped and Norma turned around to grab their food out. "But if you end up changing your mind let me know, the jobs always open."

"I'll keep that in mind." Norma said setting the packs of pancakes and a three containers of syrup on a few paper plates then handing it to Dylan.

"I can take your leftovers to the shed, I'm heading up to the house anyways." Maggie said and Norman handed her the box.

"Thank you, Maggie." He said sweetly and she walked out of the office with them. She went toward the house and they went back to the room, as soon as the door was closed Dylan spoke up.

"What were you thinking? Why didn't you take that job?"

"Because, taking that job would mean being on a payroll." Norma said while setting each of them up with their food at the desk and taking her own back to the bed.

"What's wrong with that, do you not like getting paid?"

"Being on payroll means paperwork and you have to show your ID."

"We already got around that with staying here, why not use the same excuse?" Dylan asked, turning around in his chair to talk to her.

"It's not as easy when it comes to working for someone, you need to have a bank account to get the money deposited and the only ones I have use my real name and have Sam on them."

"But what are we supposed to do about money? You said we only have enough for like two or three more days."

"You know I've been looking in the newspapers for people looking for work, if I can get someone who needs odd jobs done then they will pay me in cash."

"And if you don't find something in time?"

"I will figure something out, I always do. Now eat your pancakes before they get cold."

Alex and Oliver had been working the missing persons case all morning and couldn't find any reason for a perfectly normal teen to disappear. They decided it was time to look through Riley's room, maybe things weren't as simple as they seemed in this young boy's life.

"He's got gaming magazines down here, don't most teen boys hide pornos under the bed?" Oliver said, laying on the floor while he pulled stuff out from under Riley's bed.

"I kept mine in a box on the top shelf of my closet." Alex said while he sat at the desk, going through all the drawers.

"You finding anything?" Oliver asked, standing back up.

"He's very neat, everything in here is organized perfectly, he even color coordinated his notebooks and folders."

"Everytime we learn more about this kid things make less sense, he doesn't seem like the type of kid to run away from home and I doubt he has any enemies. Maybe this was a random grab, some sick pervert who prays on teen boys."

"But don't you think he would have yelled and fought back, the whole way to his friends house was wide open and no one saw anything suspicious."

"His parents said he is a sweet kid and they are normally targets for manipulation, he could have went with someone willingly."

"He may be sweet but he's not stupid, when I spoke with his advisor on the phone she said he was an honor student."

"So unless they found a quick and discrete way to grab him we are back to somebody he knew." Oliver said while closing the nightstand drawer he had been looking in. "We should go downstairs and talk to the parents again, maybe we can figure something out with their help." He said then Alex got off the chair and followed him down the hallway, he stopped suddenly and Oliver almost ran into the back of him. "Woah, use your brake lights next time."

Alex stared into the master bedroom through the partly open door. "You notice the bed?"

"What about it?" Oliver says, leaning forward and looking inside.

"You tell me, do you and your wife share one pillow at night?"

"No, we have two but she usually ends up with both by morning anyways."

"Then why do they only have one pillow on the bed? And the right side looks untouched." Alex said, opening the door and walking inside.

"Romero, we don't have their permission to be in this room."

"I was looking for the bathroom and got lost." Alex said opening up their closet and looking inside.

"Yeah, because most houses have closet entry bathrooms." Oliver said, closing the door most the way behind him.

"Their clothes are completely split down the middle, they aren't even touching."

"So, maybe they like thing organized like their son."

"If they were anything like their son they wouldn't have clothes half tossed off the hangers and full of wrinkles." Alex said, pulling the arm of one of the fathers shirts out. "Check the dresser." He said while looking through the stuff on the floor of the closet.

"You realize you are telling your boss to do an illegal search, right?"

"I'll look through it if you're too scared to."

"You should really update your way of getting me to do stuff, I fell for the too scared card in sixth grade when you talked me into taking my dad's Camaro for a joyride."

"You faced your fears and everything turned out okay in the end."

"I tried to floor it out of the garage and it was in reverse, I crashed it straight through to the house."

"Will you just look through the dresser or I will."

Oliver exhaled and walked over to the dresser, he went through two of the top drawers and when he got to the third one he felt something under the clothing and pulled it out. It was a beige folder with a court house stamp on the front. "I found something."

Alex walked over to him and read the open file over his shoulder. "It's divorce papers."

"Drawn up two weeks ago." Oliver said then Alex ripped the file out of his hands and carried it downstairs. "Romero, put that back." He whispered, following him down the stairs.

"Did your son know you were getting a divorce?" Alex said to the Jacobsons as he walked into the living room, slapping the papers down on the coffee table in front of them.

"You went through our bedroom? You had no right to do that." Mister Jacobson said, standing up.

"Answer the question."

"He didn't know, we hadn't told him about it yet." Missus Jacobson said.

"Why didn't you tell us about this already?"

"We didn't think it mattered, Riley never knew there were any problems between us."

"Okay and what if he did know, that could be reason for him to run away. Or what if one of you aren't getting the custody agreement you wanted so you arranged to have him taken somewhere till you could sneak away."

"He didn't know, we kept the papers locked away in the safe. We only took them out to get rid of, with everything going on it wasn't the right time to deal with. And neither of us would ever take him away from each other, we were gonna let Riley decide where he wanted to go and when." Mister Jacobson said, offended by what he had accused him of. "Now I suggest you get out of our house or I'll have both your jobs." He said and Alex stepped up to him.

"We'll give you a call if we find out anything new." Oliver said, pulling Alex back.

Alex walked with him a few feet then turned back to look at the father. "Sheriff Mckenzie had nothing to do with it, I went through your room on my own when I told him I was going to the bathroom. And we've spent every waking hour these last few days looking for a way to find your son, the least you could have done is be honest with us." He said then left the house with Oliver.

"You know you could have just got them to admit it, you didn't have to possibly get yourself in hot water." Oliver said as they got into the squad car.

"Their son has been missing four days now, we don't have time to play their games." Alex said, throwing on his seat belt. "Besides, now I know the father is hiding something."


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback, it is always appreciated and I'm happy this is keeping readers interests. And yes there will be an introduction to Emma's character in a few chapters, couldn't leave her out of the mix! Let me know what you think and enjoy..

After what happened at the Jacobson's house Oliver insisted Alex took a day off, hoping if they didn't see him around investigating they might cool off and restrain from reporting him. Alex was not at all happy about it but Oliver agreed to keep him in contact and have him come in if they found anything new. And it didn't stop Alex from making copies of the files and bringing them home to go through, not that it was going to help any, he'd read every word of them at least twenty times already. It would have been more times but he was interrupted by his phone ringing, he glanced at the caller ID and saw that it was Maggie calling.

"Hello." He said, answering the phone.

"Hey Alex, I heard you had the day off and the sink in room seven is having issues again, I was wondering if you had time to stop over and fix it."

"Yeah, I can be there in ten."

"Thank you." She said and he hung up the phone.

Getting up from his chair he took all the files and put them away safely in his locked cabinet. Once he got to the motel he went straight to the office. "Key?" He said, holding his hand out.

Maggie turned around and grabbed room seven's key then handed it to him. "Here."

Alex glanced over toward room fours door then back to Maggie. "Did you ever talk to Norma about taking a job?"

"I talked to her yesterday morning, I offered her a position working the front desk and housekeeping and told her it was okay if she only worked here temporarily but she said she wasn't interested."

"What?" Alex asked, surprised. "She turned it down?"

"Yeah."

"Did she give you a reason why?"

"She told me she was looking for something independently, I think she's looking to be her own boss."

"That doesn't make sense, she told me she was sick of that kind of work."

"I don't know what to tell you, maybe she changed her mind."

Alex paused, thinking a moment. "Did you ever get her license for your guest information?"

"No, but she's been so busy with the boys I doubt she has even unpacked yet."

Alex thought back to when he was in their room yesterday, there was a good amount of stuff taken from the bags already. "Is she in her room now?"

"No, she found someone who needed yard work done. Her and the boys left about an hour ago, she said they would be back after lunch."

Alex looked down at his watch, it was only ten-thirty so they wouldn't be home anytime soon. "Okay, I'm gonna get started on the sink in room seven." He said and started walking out of the office, he stopped in place and turned back to her, pretending as though he had just thought of something. "Oh, I just remembered, I left my pliers in room four when I was fixing Norma's television and I'm gonna need it to fix the sink."

"I should have an extra key here you can use." Maggie said, grabbing into the desk drawer and picking out another key with the number four on it.

"Thanks." Alex said, taking it from her and walking outside. When he reached room four he knocked on the door making sure they hadn't come back already and when no one answered he opened the door up and went inside. Knowing he had to be quick before Maggie started to wonder what took so long to find one tool he opened up the dresser and started looking through it. It was not lost on him that this was now the second room in two days he had searched through without permission, but he always needed the truth and sometimes you had to bend the rules a little to get it. Finding nothing suspicious he moved to the bags in the corner of the room, coming up with nothing out of the ordinary. He knew something wasn't right with this family, they had secrets they weren't telling anybody. He got to a blue backpack and dug through each pocket till he got to a small one located on the inside of the front zipper portion, pulling out a folded up piece of paper. He opened it up and saw it was an unsigned permission slip from Grayhawk Elementary School about a field trip to Arizona Historical Society Museum, he found it odd that a school in California would have a field trip that had to be hours away. He closed the paper back up and put it away the same way he had found it before leaving the room to go work on the sink, he knew what he was doing when he was done now.

Across town Norma and the boys finished up on their job, the owners of the house were a nice older couple who had trouble taking care of the yard on their own. They allowed her bring Norman and Dylan along to help and even made them lunch before sending them on there way, it was only fifty bucks but Norma was happy knowing she had enough to keep a roof over their head an extra night. Walking home Norma made both of them hold her hand just like she had done on the way into town, annoying Dylan to no end that he had to walk around town linked up with his mom and little brother.

"Okay really, what is up with this hand holding crap?" Dylan asked as they walked through the trail in the woods.

"Dylan!" Norma said, tightening her grip on his hand.

"What? It's weird."

"It's for your safety, we aren't familiar with this town and I don't want you getting lost."

"You didn't seem to mind the first time we walked into town."

"Well things have changed since then."

"What changed?"

Norma exhaled, not seeing the end of this anytime soon. "Here, come sit down with me." She said, walking them over to a bench, most likely the one they found the pipe by the first time. She was starting to think maybe this wasn't the sweet small town she assumed it was. "Deputy Romero talked to me yesterday and said a sixteen year old boy went missing here in town on Friday."

"He was kidnapped?" Norman asked, having seen it happen many times on television.

"They don't know the exact reason yet, it's possible he ran away even."

"So there might be a kidnapper here in town? Dylan asked, him and Norman both checking their surroundings.

"Could be, until we know I don't want either of you out of my sight."

"Do you know, can we do anything to help find him?"

"I think the police got it covered, but I can ask next time I see Romero."

"Can we go home now?" Norman asked, still looking around the woods.

"Yeah, let's go." Norma said and they all stood up. She didn't even need to ask for their hands, they both grabbed onto her as soon as they started walking.

Alex knew he wasn't supposed to be at the station today but he needed the computer access, luckily for him Chloe was working so he could talk his way in.

"Sheriff McKenzie told me you weren't supposed to be working today." Chloe said, smiling at him as he walked up to the front desk.

"I forgot my glasses in his office." Alex said.

"You don't even wear glasses."

"How do you know that?"

"I see you almost everyday, you have never used any form of glasses."

"So what you are saying is while you are supposed to be working you are too busy checking me out?"

"That is exactly what I'm saying." She said, joking back with him.

"I only need to use the computer for a case I'm working, I'll be really quick."

"Okay, but if the sheriff comes back I'm making up a better lie than you did." Chloe said, buzzing the door and letting him in.

"Thank you." He said to her as he walked to Oliver's office, he sat down right away and logged into the computer. First things first, he googled the school to find out if it really was in California. He typed in "Grayhawk Elementary School" and one result came up, a school in Scottsdale, Arizona. Switching over to a people's search he put in "Norma Calhoun" as the name and "Scottsdale, Arizona" as the location and no results were found. He thought about the first day when they met, he didn't think much of it at the time but she paused between her first name and her last name, almost like she was thinking up something to say. He erased the last name and went with just Norma as the name. Four results popped up, he could exclude the eighty-seven year old and the nineteen year old. The two remaining were both in their late twenties, he clicked on the twenty-nine year old named "Norma Bates." As soon as the License photo loaded on the page he knew he had found her, looking exactly the way she did when they met the first time. Now it was time to find the reason for her fake story, he checked to see if she had any outstanding warrants or a criminal background and it all came up clean. He couldn't find a reason why she would be lying about who she was till he noticed something, she was married. He found out his name is Samuel Bates and he is her youngest son Norman's father. He knew what he had to look for now, he went onto Mister Bates criminal record. Four assaults and two DUI's came up, none of the assaults were against Norma but he had met guys with records like this many times and he knew why she was lying now.

Alex logged out of the computer and left the office quickly, not even taking time to say bye to Chloe before leaving the station. It didn't take him long to get to where he stood now in front of room four, part of him wasn't sure if he should confront her about it but going against his own doubts he knocked at the door.

Norma walked over to the door and looked out the peephole, when she saw who was outside she opened the door wide. "Deputy Romero." She said, greeting him with a smile.

Both the boys sat on the big bed, having been in a tough game of go fish. Norman waved at the man who helped him win his stuffed owl, now his new favorite toy to sleep next to. "Hi Deputy." He said.

"Hi Norman, Hi Dylan." Alex said, looking past Norma to them, Dylan ignored him and went back to playing the game.

"Did you find out anything about that missing boy?" Norma asked.

"No, we haven't yet." Alex said then looked over at the boys again, not wanting to have this conversation in front of them he gestured to the porch. "Can you step outside with me?"

"Am I being arrested or something?" She asked then he shook his head and placed a hand on her arm, leading her outside. Norma closed the door behind her and rolled down the sleeves of her sweater before crossing her arms to keep warm from the evening breeze. "What is this about?"

"Maggie told me she offered you a job here, a pretty good one actually."

Norma puffed out a bit of air and tilted her head to him. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"You told me you were going to Portland to find a job, one like the one she offered you. I'm just wondering why you wouldn't take this job when it was right in front of you."

"It's not in Portland."

"But you can't get to Portland without your car, and you are probably running out of money to stay here so why not just work till you can leave?"

"I wouldn't want to take a job from her then just leave."

"Maggie said it was fine if it was temporary, she said she even told you this."

Norma exhaled and looked away from him, shaking her head. "You know this is really none of your business whether I take a job or not, Deputy."

"I want to know why you wouldn't take it, I mean there must be a reason."

"Like I said, it isn't any of your business."

Getting tired of this little game Alex decided to get it over with. "Just tell me the truth, Missus Bates."

"That is the truth, it's not any of your-" She stopped suddenly when she realized what name he had called her.

"Yeah, I know Calhoun is your maiden name, and that you are from Arizona, and that you are married to Norman's father." He said and Norma opened her mouth to speak, thinking of nothing to say back she stopped. "What the hell is going on, Norma? Why have you been lying about everything?"

"I had to." She said honestly.

"Why?"

"Sam, my husband, I had to get away from him."

"He hurt you?" He asked, knowing what the answer was going to be already and Norma nodded. "He hurt your sons?"

"The day we left he had pushed Norman down, but no, if he would have hurt them he wouldn't still be alive."

"How long was it going on, him abusing you?"

Norma walked over to the patio furniture, taking a seat at one of the chairs and Alex followed behind, sitting at the one right next to her. "The first time was when Norman was four months old, we were trying to have-" She stopped, wanting to word it differently to him. "We were in bed together and Norman started crying. Sam had been drinking and I told him I was going to check on Norman but he wouldn't let me, he said that I was too obsessed with taking care of the baby and that I needed to give him my attention. Norman just kept crying and I tried to push Sam off me, that's when it started." She explained and Alex just stared at her, wanting to comfort her but remaining put. "Afterwards once he let go of me and passed out I went to check on Norman, he hadn't been crying for awhile and I thought maybe he went back to sleep but when I got into his room Dylan, who was four at the time was holding him and dangling his little plastic rings in front of him so Norman could play with them. He was just a baby himself and there he was comforting his little brother. Dylan noticed I was hurt and asked me what happened, I told him nothing that wouldn't be better in the morning." She said and stopped to wipe some tears away that had formed. "It was a few weeks before it happened again, then even sooner before the next time, till eventually it was happening all the time. The last time it happened when he shoved Norman I kept thinking he would end up killing one of us, I knew I had to leave or one day that might be a reality. He caught us leaving and chased after our car screaming, we got away and I didn't stop driving till we were far enough away that he wouldn't come looking."

"Why didn't you tell me this from the beginning?"

"You're a cop, I technically kidnapped Norman from his father."

"You think I would have arrested you?"

"I'm still not certain you won't."

Alex stood from his chair and looked down at her. "I'll come by tomorrow, tell Maggie you will take the job and I'll handle the rest."

"How?"

"Trust me."

"Trust." Norma laughed. "That's a hard thing to do."

"Goodnight Missus Bates." Alex said, walking to his car. He didn't know what inside him made him need to talk to her so badly, maybe it was to finally get the straight truth from her or maybe he just wanted her to know he knew and that he understood. Either way he felt better knowing, and he knew what he had to do now as he got out his phone and called Oliver.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I'm gonna throw this chapter on here quick since I'm gonna be out of town till next week with no wifi (I know, terrifying), and I didn't wanna leave you guys hanging till then. Thanks again for all the fantastic feedback, I always love reading what you have to say. And as much as I like recommendations a huge portion of this story is already written and everything is outlined to the very end so it will be what it will be, I'm also hoping to start putting chapter out quicker but I wanted to wait till the whole time was done to do that. But anyways, let me know what you think and please enjoy!

With everything in life there is a line, an imaginary border that divides what is allowed to be done from the things that shouldn't. Crossing this line had always been unthinkable for Alex, the idea of passing it was never an option in his mind. But where should this line be drawn? Should the law define it or should the best interest of a human life be what determines how far you should go? That part was still a little blurred for him.

"Thanks for meeting with me, I know you're busy with the case." Alex said to Oliver who was sitting across from him at his dining room table. "Have you found any other leads yet?"

"Nothing." Oliver said, grabbing the coffee Alex had brought him. "I've been keeping the Jacobson's updated but I don't think the fathers happy about what you did still."

"His kids missing, he should be a little less worried about what I did while trying to find him."

"So what's so important you needed to talk tonight?"

"I need to know if I can trust you first."

"What?" Oliver said with a laugh. "You know you always can."

"I need you to approve a witness protection order without the proper reasons."

"You want me to put you into witness protection?" Oliver said, unsure of what his partner was asking.

"No, not me. It's this woman I know, she's on the run from her husband because he's been abusing her for years."

"Did she report the assaults?"

"No, you know what happens in these types of situations. The women fear that if they tell the husband will hurt them more, or even kill them. She needs a way to keep him away from her for good, she needs a new identity."

"What you are asking, it's illegal, you know that?"

"I know, but it's the only way I see her getting away from him."

"How well do you know this woman?"

"I met her last week."

Oliver sighed and ran his palms across his face. "Alex-"

"I know what you're gonna say Oliver, but I know she needs this. Just think about Joyce Harvey, she came to us our first year on the job."

"I remember Joyce."

"We could have saved her, she wanted our help and because of protocol we did nothing. That's on us, her death didn't have to happen."

"Protocol is there for a reason, you understand that otherwise your dad wouldn't be in prison right now."

"He did what he did to help himself get rich, what we could do would save a woman's life. She has two young sons, both had to watch her go through all of it." Alex said then pulled out the forms he had made up and held a pen up. "All you need to do is sign."

"I understand what you are saying but I can't sign that Alex. I can't lose my job, I have a wife and a mortgage to pay every month." Oliver said and Alex set down the pen on the table. "I can however, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can teach you how to forge my signature so you can sign them. Well enough that no one catches on but not perfect so I can still deny having anything to do with this in court."

"Thank you." Alex said, getting out a blank page of paper to practice on.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Oliver said, picking up the pen.

The morning sun started to peak through the motel window, overnight Norma had considered packing up their bags and leaving many different times, catching a bus and getting away from here as fast as they could before Romero had a chance to make a case against her. Deciding to have a little faith in him she stayed, hoping she was making the right decision for her and the boys.

After breakfast she spoke with Maggie and took her up on the offer for a job, saying she could start today already as long as her sons could join along. It had been years since Norma had an actual job, not that taking care of kids wasn't a job, she now had proof it was far more work to be a mom. Still a little part of her was scared having the responsibility of it now, of course she wouldn't admit it to anyone besides herself but the thought of dealing with new people everyday and having to leave the comfort of her own family bubble was going to take some time to get used to. Luckily the work itself wasn't too bad, she'd been cleaning up other people's messes her whole life. The boys helped a little, stocking the room with the towels and toiletries it needed while she did the tough stuff. Working the front desk was fairly easy, she'd help guests with anything they needed and checked in people which Norman found the most fun to help her with. Dylan had found himself a seat on one of the office chairs playing a gameboy that he'd gotten from the lost and found. By one in the afternoon she had handled everything she had been told to do and then some, Maggie told her to go take a lunch break up at the house so she could use the stove. Still getting over his cold Norman asked for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, Dylan brought up a pack of Uno cards for them to play while Norma started setting up to cook. Not long after getting into the house they heard the front door open and footsteps walking toward the kitchen.

"You're a little early for lunch, I don't even have the sandwiches on the stove yet." Norma said while she pulled out a stack of bread, setting it on a plate before turning around to see Alex walk into the room. "Oh, I thought you were Maggie."

Alex glanced down and looked himself over. "What gave it away?"

Norma smiled at him. "Do you normally wander into her house without knocking?"

"I do when she tells me you're in the house and I can go right inside." Alex looked over at the boys then back to Norma. "Can I talk to you in the other room?"

Norma set down the loaf of bread on the counter then followed him into the living room, he lifted up the large envelope she hadn't noticed he was carrying and pulled out an ID, handing it over to her. "Norma Parker?" She asked, reading the driver's license that had her photo on it.

"Using your maiden name would've made you too easy to find, and I figured Parker would be easy for your sons to spell."

Norma looked up at Alex with disbelief. "I don't understand, you're giving me a fake identity?"

"It's the only way you can keep your job and the only way your sons can start school in the fall."

"How is this possible? You're a cop, isn't this illegal?"

"We do the same thing when people witness a crime, it's for your protection."

"But I never reported anything, there is no proof Sam ever touched me."

"I don't need proof, I know you aren't lying."

"I don't think a court is just gonna take your word for it."

"The court isn't going to be involved, I already got this cleared and there is nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about other than getting caught, getting charged for using a fake identity and most likely getting you fired and possibly put in jail, nothing to worry about otherwise."

"None of that is going to happen, I covered everything that could mess this up."

Norma looked at him suspiciously. "Have you done this kind of thing before?"

"No."

"Then how do you know?"

"Because I've seen it done, and I did everything the same way."

"So, how does this work with the boys?"

Alex reached into the envelope and pulled out a set of birth certificates and social security cards for the both of them. "You are going to have to go over these with them, they are gonna need to remember where they were born and their birthdays on the certificates, I tried to make them easy to remember and you should have them practice writing their last name." He said then pulled out a couple of school transcripts. "I made their grades similar to the ones they were getting so they get put in the right classes." He pulled out two credits cards and handed them to her. "They both have a thousand dollar limit so if you want you can get your car fixed already, you should be able to pay it back before any interest kicks in."

"What about Maggie? I already told her my name was Calhoun."

"That's already taken care of, I told her you had an unpaid parking ticket that you didn't want me to know about so you gave a fake name thinking you would be out of here in a few days anyways."

"So that's it? I'm Norma Parker now?"

"If you want to be, you wouldn't have to hide anymore." Alex said then Norma looked at the pile of papers in her hands, she took a moment to wrap everything he was saying around her head, this could truly be their way out, they wouldn't have to run or be afraid of Sam ever again.

"Norma?" Dylan said, walking into the living room. "Are you going to come make lunch? Norman keeps asking about it."

"Yeah hun, I'll be right back." Norma said then Dylan walked back into the kitchen.

"I'll let you get back to your lunch." Alex said, taking everything back from her and putting it into the envelope.

"Why don't you stay for lunch?" Norma suggested.

"Technically I'm still on duty, I just got the papers in and wanted to drop them off quick."

"What time do you get off work at?"

"Around five."

"You can come over for dinner then, Maggie's letting me take over her kitchen in return for a home cooked meal, you could join us."

"I don't know-"

"Come on, it will be my way of saying thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, I'm only doing my job."

"Will you just come for dinner." Norma said as more of a demand than a question.

"Okay, I'll come."

Norma smiled triumphantly. "Be here at seven."

"Bye Norma." He said, handing her the envelope and leaving.

Norma smiled to herself while she watched him walk out the front door, no one had ever helped her before, she still couldn't believe he was doing this for her now but like he said his job is to protect people. She turned and walked back to the kitchen, and Dylan spoke as soon as he saw her.

"What did he want?"

"He came over to give me this." Norma said, setting down the envelope on the kitchen table. "And I invited him over for dinner tonight." She added quickly.

"What is it?" Norman asked.

"It's paperwork giving us new identities."

Dylan glanced at her unsurely then opened it up, pulling out a birth certificate with his real first name on it, the rest being completely made up. "You asked a cop to get us fake identities?"

"I didn't ask, he did it for me."

"Oh yeah, and what did you do for him?"

"Dylan!" Norma hissed.

"What, that's what you do right? You use people to get what you want."

"Don't talk her her like that." Norman said.

"You don't see it Norman, she always does this stuff."

Norma cut in, not wanting their bickering about her to go on any longer. "I am not using Romero and he didn't ask for anything in return."

"Then why is he doing this?" Dylan asked.

"He doesn't want Sam to find us."

"How does he even know about Sam? That was all supposed to be a secret."

"He found out I was lying about who we were, he's a good cop, he put it all together."

"A good cop, really Norma? Is he even allowed to do this kind of thing?"

"Dylan, stop it. It doesn't matter now, all that matters is we have a way to be safe. I don't want anything to happen to either of you and if lying is what I have to do to protect my family that is what I will do."

"Fine, but don't expect me to thank him. He's doing this for one reason only and it isn't for my safety."

"It's not even like that Dylan, I've told you that before."

"If it's not like that then why did you invite him to dinner tonight?"

"It's not like it's a candlelight supper, he's having food with the three of us and Maggie."

"You might want to check with Maggie and make sure she has a room open for the two of you after."

"Why would they need a room? Mother sleeps with us." Norman said, still too young to catch onto what he was implying.

"We are done talking about this, play your game, I'm going to make lunch." Norma said sternly before going back to what she was doing when Alex had gotten there.

On the drive home Alex couldn't stop thinking about what he had done, he knew it was wrong but he didn't find himself feeling guilty. Breaking the rules or not he had to help them, they didn't have anyone else. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the phone ringing, he grabbed it out of his pocket and answered.

"Romero." He said.

"I spoke with the the facility your father is locked up at, they aren't willing to disclose who's been there visiting him." Oliver said from the other line.

"Of course they aren't, I'm sure he already has all of them wrapped around his finger." Alex said then looked up ahead at an exit sign, thinking to himself a moment.

"I can look for something more concrete, then they will have to give us the information."

"Actually don't worry about it, I'll handle it, I gotta go." Alex said hanging up the phone and getting off onto the exit. It didn't take long to get to where he was going, if he really wanted he could have easily made the same trip everyday. Being a police officer and a relative made it much quicker to get into the visitation room, finding an empty table and waiting for the man he hadn't seen since before he put him away. Dread wasn't a strong enough word for what he was feeling now as he watched the door, but if putting aside his stubborn nature was what he needed to do to get answers then he was going to do it.

The door opened and his father stepped into the room, his expression mirroring Alex's stoic glares. "Alex." He said, walking up the table. "You're looking good."

"It hasn't been that long."

"The weeks feel like years inside here." He said then took a seat across from his son. "Didn't expect you to ever show up."

"Well, it's not a social call."

"You wouldn't be here."

Alex took a deep breath then leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "I need to know who has been here to visit you."

"How is Chevy doing?" He asked, avoiding the question.

"Okay, we're not talking about the dog right now. I'm asking you this for a reason, we had a robbery at the pharmacy."

"And what does this have to do with me? I'm behind bars, clearly I didn't do it."

"Because I know you, I watched how you got around things all my life, this has your name written all over it."

"I don't know what to tell you Alex, you are my first visitors since I've been here."

"Don't- don't you dare lie to me, I want you to tell me right now who has been here."

"What makes you think I would tell you anything? You put me in this place."

"Did you really expect me to keep letting you run the town the way you had been?"

"You will understand someday, you'll have to do the same things I did the protect this town."

"You weren't protecting the town, you were looking out for yourself. " Alex said then stood up. "And that's why I'll never be like you." He said then turned to walk away when his father spoke again.

"And what, you're prince charming?" He said then Alex stopped and stood facing away from him. "Can you honestly tell me you haven't broken the rules, or that you haven't wondered if there was a different, more effective way to handle things?"

"I'm taking care of Chevy." Alex said, glancing back at his father a second before leaving.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Apologies for the delay on this chapter, I was out of town looking after an injured family member so I didn't have a way to get this posted sooner, but they are doing great now and I'm home and ready to get back to this story. Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter, and to the reviewer wanting to see things get less platonic believe me I feel the same way, the fact that I have gone this far without pairing them is a shock to me too. But as they say, good things come to those who wait, so keep holding on and hopefully I won't lose you along the way. As always let me know what you think and please enjoy!

If it were any other day Alex would have went straight home, made a strong drink and sat alone till he fell into an unconscious slumber. But tonight that wasn't the case, he had agreed to have dinner with the Bates family, well technically now the Parker's. He was unsure of how he got roped into it, never had someone made a decision for him like Norma had done. He didn't know what stopped him from getting out of it, normally he could give a single look and the person would give up on him but he didn't seem to have that effect on her. She wasn't intimidated by him and that drove him crazy, and somehow intrigued him at the same time.

He drove through the neighborhood on his way to the motel when something caught his attention, a young boy stepping out of the van onto the driveway with a skateboard clenched in his grip. The design on the board was a black and red checkered pattern, just like the one Riley's parents had described him having. Though the boy was much younger than Riley and they could have easily had the same skateboard it was too much of a coincidence that the same one would show up on the street Riley would have taken to his friends house. He pulled onto the side of the road and grabbed a sheet of paper from the glove box then went over to the car, an older man stood helping the boy gather a few bags from the side door.

"Where'd you get that skateboard?" Alex asked as soon as he reached them, giving no introduction. Not that he needed to, everyone in this town knew who he was by now.

The boy looked at the skateboard in his hands then nodded behind him. "Some boy left it on the sidewalk."

"When was this?"

"A few days ago."

"Do you remember exactly what day it was?"

"Friday, I'm only at my dad's house Friday and Wednesday nights."

"What is this about, deputy?" The father asked.

"He never came back for it so I thought it would be okay to take, am I in trouble?" The boy asked nervously.

"Not if you can tell me more about the boy who left it." Alex said.

"He was a lot older than me but he must still be in school because he was wearing a backpack."

Alex unfolded the sheet of paper from his pocket and showed it to the boy. "Is this him?" He asked, pointing to Riley in the photo.

The boy nodded. "Yeah, that's him."

"Do you know why he left it here? Or where he went after?"

"A black car pulled up to him, the man inside told him that his dad was in an accident."

"Did you see the man in the car, can you describe what he looked like?"

"I didn't see the man in the car, I could see the window rolled down but he must have been sitting on the other side."

"So it wasn't the man who was driving that talked to him?"

"No, and their car windows were really dark so I couldn't see inside."

"Did the boy act like he knew the man he was talking to?"

"Yes, he was wondering why he knew about his dad being hurt when they didn't work together anymore. The man told him that he was driving past his house and he saw an ambulance, when he went up the dad was being taken away and his mom asked if he could go get him and bring him to the hospital. The boy got in the car right after leaving his skateboard."

"Do you remember anything else about the car, a license plate number or if it had anything on it?"

"No, I didn't see anything, it was just a plain black car."

Alex turned to the father. "I need you to bring your son to the station and have him tell that and anything else he remembers to me again so I can write out a statement."

"My son's not going to be in trouble, is he? He didn't know any better about taking the skateboard."

"No, he's not in trouble. But I will need the skateboard back." Alex said, taking it from the boy. "Bring your stuff into the house and get right to the station."

An hour later Alex had finished up with the boys statement, he hadn't thought of anything new but he helped more than any other thing they had found so far in the search. Now he knew for sure that Riley had been taken by someone he knew and that the father should be able to help them identify who it was. Alex was leaving the station when Oliver caught up with him in the parking lot.

"Romero." Oliver shouted, hurrying over to him. "Did I hear right, you got a lead in Riley's case?"

"Yeah, I'm going to talk to his parents right now to get more answers."

"I should probably take it from here Alex, I don't know how comfortable the Jacobson's are with you still working the case."

"I don't give a damn about their comfort, the father has to know something about this and I'm gonna get it out of him." Alex said and started opening his door when Oliver put his hand on it, stopping him.

"But you aren't going to do anything stupid, you already crossed a line with them once."

"I'm gonna do whatever has to be done to find him."

"I'm coming with." Oliver said then grabbed the keys out of Alex's hands and held them up. "And I'm driving."

Not long after they approached the Jacobson's house, Alex had explained everything he learned about Riley's kidnapper on the way and Oliver was now up to speed, understanding now why Alex was so insistent on talking to the parents.

"Now I don't care what the circumstances are, we are still doing this the right way." Oliver said then Alex knocked on the front door loudly.

The door opened and Mister Jacobson looked straight at Alex. "Come to snoop through our personal items more?"

Alex ignored his comment and walked right past him and into the house, Oliver let out a deep breath watching him. "Romero." He said and Alex made no effort to come back out. "May we come in?"

"Doesn't seem like I have a choice." Mister Jacobson said letting Oliver inside too.

"Where's your wife?" Alex asked.

"Cassandra, come out here." He yelled to the other room.

She walked out still wiping her hands with a dish towel, as soon as she saw them she rushed toward them. "Did you find him?"

"Sorry, no, we haven't yet." Oliver said and her expression immediately dropped. "Can we all take a seat somewhere to talk?"

"Of course." Cassandra said, gesturing to the living room furniture.

Once everyone took a seat Oliver exchanged a look with Alex before starting. "We got new information on your sons case, I'm sorry but it looks like he was taken."

"Taken? What does that mean exactly? You know who took him?" The father asked quickly.

"We don't know everything yet but we have a witness who saw him get into a car with someone."

"Oh my god." Missus Jacobson said, putting her face into her palms. "Why would he do that? We taught him never to get into a car with someone you don't know."

"The witness said Riley knew him, that the man inside the car had worked with you." Alex said, staring right at Mister Jacobson.

"What?" The father said, glancing at everyone in the room. Alex watched closely as Cassandra glared over at her husband, shaking her head at him. "How, why would they think that?"

"Whoever took Riley tricked him into the car, he told him you had been hurt and Riley asked how he knew since you didn't work together anymore."

"I-I ah quit my last job a few weeks ago but I don't know of any reason someone from there would take him."

"Where did you work?" Oliver asked.

"I worked at a warehouse near the marina, I manufactured boat parts."

"How many people would you say you worked with?"

"With management and salesmen, easily a hundred."

"How many would have Riley known?" Alex asked.

"Most of them, he would stop by all the time and everyone there loved talking to him."

"Did anyone ever act strange around him, like maybe they were a little too close with him?"

"No, nothing like that. I worked there almost twenty years, I don't know of anyone that would take him for any reason."

"I'm gonna need the name of the warehouse." Oliver said, pulling out his notepad and pen then handing it to him.

While he was writing Alex noticed his hand shaking slightly, his gaze went up to his face. "Why did you quit? I mean you worked there a long time without a problem so why now?"

His wife glanced sideways at him, and he closed up the notepad handing it back to Oliver before speaking. "I wanted to spend more time with my family, as you know we were having problems and my work was a big part of that."

"That's the only reason?"

"Yes." Mister Jacobson said and Alex continued to stare at him. "Are you implying that isn't the reason?" He asked then Alex tilted his head and shrugged. "I'm getting really tired of the way you conduct yourself, it's not professional at all. My child is missing and you are treating me like I'm the bad guy here."

"I'm just trying to find your son."

"Then go find him instead of sitting here and interrogating me."

Alex stood up and went to go towards the father when Oliver stopped him. "Romero, let's go." He said, patting his partner on the back. The whole way out of the house he glanced back at him, the father looked back at him angrily but he noticed a slight change in his expression, possibility guilt. "What were you going to do, jump the father?" Oliver asked as the stepped outside and walked to the car.

"He's clearly lying, he knows more than what he is telling us."

"Even if that is the case we have to go about this the right way, we can't start assaulting scared parents just to get the answers."

"Maybe we do."

"Alex, you know better than that. That kinda stuff is what your father did."

"I just- I don't understand why he would be hiding anything. His son is missing, isn't finding him more important than protecting himself?"

"Maybe what he is hiding has nothing to do with his son."

"It does, or he wouldn't be getting so upset." Alex said before getting back in the car.

Once they were back at the station Chloe let them in. "Deputy Romero, you got a couple calls from Maggie Summers."

"Shit." Alex said under his breath, he had got so wrapped up in the case he forgot to give them a call and let them know he couldn't make it to dinner.

"You in trouble for something?" Oliver asked.

"I was supposed to go over there for dinner tonight."

"You were going to have dinner with Maggie?"

"She was going to be there too but Norma asked me to come over."

"Norma?" Chloe said. "Did you finally find yourself a woman?"

"She's just a new worker at the motel, I helped her with a few things and she was making dinner as a thank you."

"I don't think you are going to get thanked now." Oliver joked.

Chloe smirked till she heard a light knock on the glass, they all looked over to see Missus Jacobson standing there. "I need to talk to you." She said, looking straight at Alex.

"Let her in, Chloe." Alex said and she unlocked the door letting Cassandra inside. "Call Maggie for me and tell her sorry about tonight." He said then they lead her into Olivers office and had her take a seat.

"What do you need to tell us, Missus Jacobson?" Oliver asked, taking a seat.

"First I wanted to apologize for my husband's behaviour towards your deputy." She said and looked at Alex. "I really appreciate what you are doing to find my son."

"You know what your husband is hiding?" Alex asked bluntly.

She nodded. "I think I might, if I would have thought it had anything to do with Riley I would have told you from the beginning no matter how upset he would have gotten."

"What is it?"

"A few months ago I noticed Daniel acting different, he was coming home later than usual, leaving the room every time he got a call and he was lashing out for no reason. My friend had just gone through a divorce with her husband a year before and she said the signs were pretty similar."

"He was having an affair."

"Yes." She said shamefully. "I hired a private investigator, if I was going to bring it up to him I wanted to be sure. He showed me pictures of the two of them together, it's not something a wife ever wants to see but I needed to know."

"I'm very sorry." Oliver said.

"The woman is an english teacher at my son's school, I met her many different times at conferences and school events. And when I thought wow, it really can't get any worse than this my P.I. showed me these." Cassandra said then pulled out a set of photos from her purse and handed them to Oliver, Alex hurried over and stood behind him to look at them. They flipped through pictures of Daniel Jacobson meeting with different people, in each photo he looked to be selling them products and getting suitcases of money in return.

"I'm guessing he isn't selling boat parts to these people." Oliver said and flipped to the next photo of one of the buyers opening up a package of weed. "He was selling drugs."

"I never thought I would find out my husband was a drug dealer."

"He's not a drug dealer." Alex said, looking at more photos. "Not exactly anyhow."

"What?" Cassandra and Oliver both asked.

"Look at these people he is selling to, everyone in fancy clothing, driving import cars. He's not a dealer, he's a supplier."

"How is that different?" Missus Jacobson asked.

"In a drug trade they have a chain of command, there is people who grow the crops, people who guard them, people who trim them, people who process them and then people who distribute it. That's what your husband did, and there would have been a big boss who told him where to go and when." Alex said then showed a photo from the pile of Daniel having lunch with another man. "And that's the boss."

"Nick Ford?" Cassandra asked.

"You know him?"

"He was one of my husbands main clients, he bought everything for his boat from Dan. He is also the father of the woman he had the affair with."

"Your husband was having an affair with Blair Watson?"

"Yes, I assumed that was a big part of Daniel quitting. Nick wasn't happy when he heard about it, his daughter was off limits in his mind. He went to the factory one day and made a scene in front of everybody, normally I would have felt bad for Dan but after everything I learned I knew he had it coming."

"We need to find Ford, he could be the missing link." Oliver said.

Alex pressed the intercom. "Chloe, have a couple officers go out to the Jacobson residence and arrest Daniel." He said and Cassandra looked at him with a shocked expression. "Drug trading and lying to police officers during an investigation."

"I hate how often you are right." Oliver said to Alex while he started searching for Ford's address on his computer. "Got it."

"Will you let me know whether you find anything later?" Missus Jacobson asked.

"I will give you a call as soon as we leave his house." Oliver said as he stood up and grabbed his coat. "I'd wait awhile before going home."

The both of them went to Ford's house and searched for him with no luck, they knew of his boat at the marina so they checked there too. On the way out they ran into another owner that had asked what they were doing by Ford's boat, after telling him that they were looking for him he told them that he went on a trip a few days ago and wasn't going to be back till next week. Without more than a photo of a simple lunch between Daniel Jacobson and Nick Ford they had nothing else they could do till he got back into town and called it a night, only Oliver going back to the station to make sure he got everything sorted out for Daniel's arrest.

Alex looked at his watch on the drive home, he wondered if eleven-thirty was too late for Norma to still be up. He decided he'd drive by and if there was any lights on he would knock, as he pulled up into the parking lot he didn't need any further confirmation that she was awake since she was sitting outside her motel room on the patio furniture drinking a beer. She looked over at him, putting her hand up to block the headlight now shining on her. He turned off the car and got out, walking up to the table she was sitting by.

"I wouldn't peg you for a beer drinker." Alex said, nodding toward the pack of bottles sitting on the table.

"I prefer whiskey but this was the only thing I could find in the fridge, I'm pretty sure it expired like a year ago but it's still pretty good." Norma said then grabbed another bottle out. "You want one?"

"Sure." He replied then she handed him a bottle and he sat down on one of the chairs, popping the cap off on the table next to him.

"You didn't need to attack the furniture, I had a bottle opener." Norma said, showing him it.

"I popped open my first beer on this table."

She ran her hand on the edge of the table, feeling all the grooves. "Is that why it has so many knicks in it?"

"That and being around since the eighties."

Norma shrugged and took a sip of her own beer. "Did you use to hang out here a lot?"

"Almost everyday till I was about fourteen."

"Why'd you stop coming around?"

"You know how it is with childhood friends, you start to grow apart eventually."

"You stayed friends with Maggie though."

"She's different from Keith, her parents messed her up too but the way he dealt with things was much worse."

"Where is he really? You and Maggie get all shifty eyed anytime he comes up."

"I don't know the exact details."

"You not knowing something, that's new." Norma said in a fake surprised tone making Alex smirk.

"He's doing a job, his new work assignment requires a large amount of travel. This is the forth time in the last few years that he's left and came back a few months later with stacks of cash."

"I'm guessing whatever it is it isn't something legal."

Alex finally took a big sip of his beer then settled back in the chair more. "So, what's got you out here drinking alone?"

"Ha, where do I begin." She said with a chuckle.

"It's not because I didn't show up, is it?"

Norma laughed lightly. "You think you have that much of an effect on me Deputy?"

"No, not me personally. But people who have dealt with a lot of disappointment, like people not being there when they said they would always take it harder when someone new doesn't come through, they feel like the whole world doesn't care."

"Wow, for someone as closed off as you you sure got a lot of insight."

"So I was right?"

"Not even close." She said with a laugh. "Dylan is just giving me a hard time about this whole fake identity thing."

"Was he close with your husband?"

She shook her head. "No, he never liked him. I always thought it was the cliche son doesn't like his stepfather routine but when I think back Sam was never good to him, neither of them."

"Why is he upset then?"

"It's complicated."

"It is because of the lying?"

"I think that's part of it, as hard as it might be to see he is a good kid."

"You don't have any problem with lying."

"What do you mean?"

"It's like second nature to you." Alex said then put his hand up to stop her from talking before he got the chance. "And don't get defensive because I'm not saying it in a bad way."

"It didn't always come easy for me."

"Me either."

Norma watched him as he stared down at his beer bottle, peeling at the corners of the label. "Is there something you wanted to ask me?"

Alex scrunched up his face and paused a moment before looking over at her. "You lied to protect yourself and your sons but would you ever lie in a situation that would help you but could hurt them?"

"What is this about?" She asked, tilting her head.

"The kid who is still missing, his father has kept stuff from us, information that could be extremely important in finding his son."

"That's awful."

"Well people are awful most the time." Alex said with a shrug then they sat quietly a moment.

"If it were one of my sons in trouble I would admit every single lie I ever told to get them back."

Alex looked up and caught her gaze, holding eye contact with her for what felt like minutes but had only been a matter of seconds. He turned away suddenly and stood up, setting his bottle on the table. "Thanks for the beer."

"Technically I stole them, but you're welcome."

"Night, Norma." He said and started to walk away when she spoke making him stop.

"Hey, Deputy Romero." She said and he turned around. "Can I call you by your name? It's a little stupid at this point."

"Yeah, you can call me Alex."

Norma smiled. "Night, Alex."


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Since I took so long to get the last chapter up this one is a lot sooner, don't get too use to it cause it will probably be a few more weeks till I start putting them out closer together. Thanks as always for the reviews, I'm glad people are enjoying the little normero bits I've been giving and I assure you there will be a lot more soon enough. Also thanks to the person who said they are enjoying the missing boy case Alex is working on, I don't always like writing crime related stuff but for where his storyline will go I felt he needed something at work that could really impact the way he thinks in terms of the law, and to be honest I actually had a lot of fun with it so I'm looking forward to your reactions when we get deeper into that. Let me know what you think and please enjoy!

Seven days had passed already and Ford hadn't returned back to White Pine Bay yet, Alex got tired of waiting and wondering so he decided to take a different approach. He wasn't sure of all the men that Ford had catering to him but he was sure of one thing, the man had a weak spot for his only daughter. That's how he got here, in some local shop that sold unusually large amounts of school supplies, sneaking around corners and hiding in aisles so as not to be seen by the woman he was following. He knew Blair Watson didn't live a simple life and it made things easier for him, and far less awkward to spy on her while she was doing something as boring as shopping. He watched as she went up to a shelf full of legal pads, standing in the far side of the aisle to keep his distance. She put some of her selections in the cart before walking out of the aisle and toward a bin of erasers, Alex walked half way down the aisle and stopped when she turned to throw a few in the cart, he reached forward and grabbed a notebook quick, opening it and pretending he was looking through it. When she turned back away he closed it, still holding it in his hands in case she looked back again. So focused on what she was doing he hadn't noticed the other people in the aisle till he heard Norma's voice.

"You're school supply shopping?" She asked and he turned around to face her.

"Ah, yeah." He said, still a little on the edge from his spying.

"I didn't know you had a kid."

"I don't, I heard they had the scented markers on sale." Alex said, trying to joke so she couldn't tell he was actually caught off guard.

"Really?" She asked, amused.

"No, I needed pens for the office and you can buy them in bulk here."

"I was actually asking if the scented markers were on sale, I love those things."

Alex smirked and shook his head. "I have no clue."

Norma looked at the notebook Alex was holding and smiled. "I'd never expect you to be into unicorns."

"What?" Alex asked and Norma nodded at the notebook, he lifted it up and saw the design on the front, purple and pink with unicorns walking on rainbows. He quickly set it back on the shelf like he was found holding something illegal. "I wasn't paying attention to what I was grabbing."

"Something distracting you?" Norma asked, not admitting that she had seen him watching some woman in the store.

Alex glanced over at where Blair had been standing then back at Norma. "No." He said then looked over at Dylan and Norman who were busy picking out notebooks and folders. "Are they excited to be starting school soon?"

"Not really, Dylan has never liked school much and Norman hates being away from me."

"That's better than them liking school just to get away from you."

"Do you think I'm that horrible to be around?" Norma said with slight offence in her tone.

Alex chuckled lightly. "I was drawing from my own experience, that's what I did when I was a kid."

"I guess I did the same."

Dylan walked over to their cart and put in the items he picked, glancing over Alex quick before looking at Norma. "You're supposed to be helping us shop."

"Two minutes ago you told me you wanted to pick your own stuff out."

"Well now I need help."

Norma exhaled and looked back at Alex. "I guess I should-"

Alex noticed Blair walk past the aisle and cut Norma off. "I'll let you get back to your shopping." He said and Norma gave him an unsure look.

"Yeah, okay, bye."

"Bye, Norma." He said and turned around walking away from her, he found Blair again and continued to spy on her around the store. After she had paid he followed her out to the parking lot, she got to her car and stopped by the back of it when her phone started to ring. Alex got as close as he could to hear without being seen, luckily it was a rainy morning and sight wasn't as easy.

"Hello?" Blair said, answering her phone. "No, I'm not picking you up, have one of your workers do it." She said, annoyed with whoever was on the other line. "You made a fool out of me and now you expect me just to forgive you?" She asked and whatever the person said back clearly offended her. "Have a nice rest of your trip, find your own ride home." She said and slammed her flip phone shut, she shuffled around the brown bags in her hands so she could put her phone back into her purse and knocked one of them to the ground, the contents spilling onto the pavement. She let out a loud groan and set her purse on the back of her car before kneeling to the ground to pick her things up.

"Here, let me help you." Alex said, kneeling down across from her and gathering a few things.

"Thank you." She said kindly, setting the bag between them so they could put the supplies back inside. "It's very sweet of you."

Alex smiled at her while he set the rest of the stuff into the bag, he stood up quickly and gave her his hand to help her up. She took it gratefully as she got onto her feet, Alex leaned down and picked up her bag and put it into her car for her. "I hope I'm not overstepping but I heard you talking on the phone, it seemed like someone was bothering you."

"Oh, it was nothing. My father and I aren't really on the best terms right now."

"I understand the dilemma, I don't get along well with my father either."

"We used to get along, but at some point you start to realize that pretending their flaws aren't there doesn't make them a good person, or a good parent." Blair said while closing her trunk. "Sorry, I'm just unloading all my problems on you."

"It's no problem." Alex said and she turned to him, standing there a moment quietly. "Take it from me that parents don't always turn out to be the people you imagined them being when you were younger, they are cruel and disappointing but they are your parents, there is no changing that."

"Are you saying I should give him another chance?"

"That's your choice to make, just make a decision you won't regret later, think it over."

"Well his flight gets in Friday and he wants me to pick him up, so I don't have much time to decide."

"Three days." Alex said, not actually talking to her at that point, just confirming the date in his mind. "I'll let you go then, you got a lot to think about."

"Thank you." She said with a smile and stepped a little closer to him. "If you wanted we could meet up for a drink, help me work through the decision."

Alex stepped back a bit, not expecting to be asked out so quickly by a woman he didn't know. He had flirted with his desk clerk for months now and it never went any further than that. He talked to this girl two minutes and she's ready to meet up, and by the way she was smiling at him it had a different meaning then what he knew of. He looked away from her for any excuse to get out of this situation, as luck would have it Norma and her sons were standing across the parking lot walking toward their car, he waved a hand at her when he saw Norma look over at them. "I'm sorry, I gotta go help my wife load the car."

"Oh." Blair said awkwardly, looking over to the woman he had gestured toward. "Well thank you again for your help."

"You're welcome." Alex said then walked away from her, his plan was to head toward Norma till her car pulled away but she hadn't drove off right away so he had to keep it going. When he reached Norma the boys had already climbed into their seats and she was opening her trunk, he reached into her cart and pulled out a few bags.

"What are you doing?" Norma asked, looking him over.

"Helping you load your car." He said and set the bags inside.

"Okay, I can see that. But, why?"

"I noticed you over here, I thought I'd help." Alex said and she stared at him with squinted eyes. "Does there really need to be a reason to help someone."

"Apparently not with you, you are quite the superman today."

"What?"

"Nothing." Norma said while loading the rest of her bags into the car and shutting the trunk. "Thank you."

Alex nodded and patted his hand on the top of her vehicle, looking back to see her car still hadn't left he knew he had to make more conversation. "How's it been running?"

"Well it's starts now."

"Always a good sign."

"It's not the best form of transportation but it gets us from point A to B, I'm just glad to have it back."

"Getting tired of walking everywhere?"

"More like getting tired of Dylan complaining about having to walk everywhere."

"You know I can hear you?" Dylan said from his open window.

"I should probably get them home, I told Maggie I'd have lunch made by noon."

Alex looked over and saw Blair's car pulling out and leaving the lot. "Yeah, I'll see you around."

"Always seems to be that way." Norma said jokingly and they said their goodbyes before Norma got into the car.

Dylan watched as Alex walked to his car, he glanced back a few times to where Blair's car had been parked. "You think that was his girlfriend?"

"What?" Norma asked, looking back at him in her mirror as she backed out and started to drive.

"The girl Romero was with before, she kept smiling at him."

"I'm not sure, but people can smile at each other for a million different reasons."

"Not the way she was smiling."

"How was she smiling?" Norman asked.

"Like she was about to make out with him right in the parking lot."

"Gross."

"I don't think she was looking at him like that." Norma said.

"He helped her put away her bag."

"He helped me put mine away too and there is nothing going on between us."

"Yeah but you had like twenty bags, she had two, why would he need to help her with that?"

"I don't know Dylan, maybe he just likes helping people."

"Why are you so against that woman being his girlfriend? He's an adult, do you really think he doesn't have someone in his life?"

"I'm not against it, I'm only trying to point out to you that you can't just assume things you know nothing about. Up until now you were convicted he was flirting with me when he wasn't."

"I'm still sure about that, I know what guys do."

"He can't flirt with her, she's married." Norman said.

"Romero knows she left town to get away from him, which makes her fair game, besides it's not like they are together anymore."

Norma rolled her eyes from the front seat while she pulled into the motel parking lot. "Okay if you two would like to debate my availability more do it while carrying in the bags."

Later on at the station Alex sat at his desk going through files, earlier when he got there he had told Oliver about Ford not getting back to town till Friday. He was interrupted from his trance when Oliver spoke from behind him.

"Romero, come in my office a moment." Oliver said and Alex stood up, walking into the office with him. Oliver didn't bother closing the door, knowing they wouldn't be in there long anyway. "McCall just called me."

"The manager at the pharmacy?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, he's worried about his assistant Lynn, the woman I talked to the day all those prescriptions went missing."

"Why?"

"Apparently she quit right after, said she was too shaken up by the robbery to keep working there. McCall didn't think much of it but he sent her last check out a week ago and she never cashed it, he called a few different times to find out if she got it and hasn't heard anything back."

"You got her address?"

"I figured that would be the first thing you asked." Oliver said, holding up a piece of paper with an address on it. "Let's go."

Alex followed Oliver out of his office and stopped when he saw Norma walking into the station, Chloe noticed her and asked for her name. "Norma Parker." Alex answered before she could.

"This is Norma?" Chloe asked, looking back at Alex.

"You can let her in." Alex said then she unlocked the door, Norma walked over and opened it coming inside. "What's wrong?"

"That's not a good way to greet someone Romero." Oliver said from beside him then he extended his hand. "I'm sheriff Mackenzie, it's nice to finally meet you."

Norma took his hand kindly and shook it. "Likewise."

"I'll be in the car, you can meet me out there." Oliver said, leaving the station.

"Really Norma, what is it?" Alex said, not meaning to sound rude but he was in a hurry to find Lynn.

"Can we talk somewhere else?" Norma whispered, glancing back at Chloe.

Alex raised his hand toward Oliver's office and she walked inside, he followed behind her and shut the door. "Where are Dylan and Norman?"

"They are hanging out with Maggie, I had to run to the store again because we ran out of laundry soap and we have to clean the bedding in all the rooms today. I figured since I was out this way I'd stop in and talk to you about something."

"I'm really busy Norma, what is it?"

"I'll make it quick, I got a call from Dylan's new school and they said they are going to need immunization records before his orientation on Friday or he won't be able to start on the first day this year, I called the elementary and they said the same thing about Norman."

"You have to bring them into the doctor to get those, they will do an exam and give them any shots they need."

"I'm aware of that but the only medical I have for them is in our real names."

"I'll get you set up with a medical plan as soon as I can but I really have to get somewhere now."

"Alright, just please let me know as soon as possible otherwise I'm gonna have to pay out of pocket to get them in."

"I will." He said then he walked with her out of the office, saying a quick goodbye once they got to the parking lot. Alex got inside the car with Oliver and he started off to Lynn's house.

"So that is Norma." Oliver said, a smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah, that's her." Alex said then looked over at him. "Stop smiling, it's not like that."

"What? She's good looking, you're good looking."

"Please don't say I'm good looking, it's bad enough when you do it while you're drunk."

"You two just seem to have a good connection."

"You saw us together for half a minute."

"It was that strong." Oliver said then Alex exhaled, rubbing his eyes with his hand. "You have seriously never considered it?"

"What is there to consider? She doesn't think of me that way, and technically she is still married."

"Norma Bates is still married, Norma Parker on the other hand."

"I'm sure Krista would be very pleased with the fact that you think a fake last name changes things."

"You know I don't mean it like that, you understand better than anyone the situation she is coming out of, what she had wasn't a marriage."

"More of a reason to not go there, she just left her husband and she's in a vulnerable state."

"Well some guy is going to go there, and I'm guessing it's going to be sooner rather than later." Oliver said as they pulled up into the driveway of the address he found on file.

Alex looked around the yard and pointed out things that seemed off. "Looks like at least seven newspapers on the porch, grass hasn't been mowed in a few weeks judging by the length."

"You thinking she skipped town?"

"Let's find out." Alex said then they both climbed out of the car and walked up to the door, he did three loud knocks on the door and waited, with no answer he tried a few more times.

"Lynn, open up. It's sheriff Mackenzie, I just wanna talk to you a minute." Oliver said then Alex knocked again before his hand went to the doorknob. "What are you doing? We don't have a warrant."

Alex stopped and walked across the porch, peeking in through the window to the spots the curtain wasn't hiding. The first thing he noticed was pill bottles laying on the coffee table, he tried to look around more but he couldn't get much of a view. "Plain view doctrine." He said pointing into the window, Oliver walked over and looked inside. "You see the same prescriptions on the table? The same ones stolen from the pharmacy."

"It's too far away to see any of the labels, they could just as easily be her medications."

"They aren't hers, I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, but your hunch doesn't give us reason to enter the house."

"Maybe I can see the labels."

"It's more than fifty feet across the room, you can't see it. I can barely read the labels when I hold the bottle in my hands, I accidently took a couple of Krista's birth control pills once."

Alex looked inside again and noticed the curtain start to move. "Look." He said pointing to the curtain.

"Someone is on the other side of the window."

"No, it wouldn't be moving like that, the air conditioning must have kicked on." Alex said then examined the new areas he could see, his eyes freezing on one thing.

"Is that-"

"Lynn's body laying on the floor next to the couch."

Oliver rushed over to the front door, finally deciding it was time to go inside. He tried opening the door but it was locked so he took his nightstick and busted out the window on it then reached in to open the door. The both of them entered and rushed over to her, stopping when the awful smell hit their noses. "Okay, I don't think we're saving her." He said, covering his nose.

Alex mimicked him and covered his own face, walking closer to get a better look. "Vicodin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone and Demerol."

"Every drug stolen from the pharmacy." Oliver said then leaned down at looked at Lynn's body. "I don't see any foul play, looks to me like an overdose." He took out his radio and informed them to send more officers out to Lynn's house.

"How did she act that day you meet her?"

"She seemed fine, very smart, she sounded like she knew what she was doing."

"By the way her body is composed it wasn't too long after that day that this happened, so what makes someone who supposedly has a good head on their shoulders rob their workplace and do this."

"In most cases, a man."

Over the next few hours the house was examined by forensics and no signs of forced entry or foul play were found, now they'd have to wait on an autopsy to reveal the cause of death which could take awhile depending on how quickly they could find her relatives. When Alex got a break in work he found a good insurance plan for Norma and her sons, it wouldn't be approved for several weeks but he knew it was a sure thing and they would go back three months in medical bills so she didn't have to worry about paying for their visit. After he got off work he decided to stop at the motel to let her know figuring it was on the way home anyways, he knew the boys wouldn't be up now but judging by the last time he came over Norma was likely awake. He walked up and gently knocked on her motel door, he didn't hear much inside till she got right next to the door and opened it.

"Alex." Norma said, greeting him. "One second." She said then turned back inside and returned with a pair of shoes in hand, slipping one onto each foot before stepping outside and shutting the door behind her. "Did you have time to figure out the insurance?"

Alex nodded and followed Norma to the patio furniture, sitting the same way they had the other times before. "It will take awhile to be fully set up but you can make them appointments and let the office know you will have insurance that will be picking up the bill, I got you the company information and the application number you can give them so you shouldn't have any trouble." He said, handing her a few papers.

"Thank you, the boys were already worried they weren't going to get to start in time and end up falling behind."

"Yeah, I didn't think about them needing medical reports for school."

"Well it's your first time, you'll get better." Norma joked, making Alex smirk. "Can I give you a little advice?"

"If you must."

"If you like someone you should find a better way to approach them, stalking can get you in a lot of hot water."

"What?" Alex asked unsurely.

"Today at the store-"

"I'm not stalking you." He said cutting her off.

"I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about the woman you practically followed around the whole shop and out to her car."

"I wasn't stalking her either, I was following her around to get information on one of my cases, it was strictly work related."

"I don't know, she seemed pretty taken with you."

"Doesn't matter, even if she wasn't apart of a very major case she isn't my type."

"Well what is your type then?" Norma said then before he could try and change the subject she spoke again. "Wait let me guess, obviously someone young. Maybe by ten years, fresh outta high school."

"I'm thirty-three, so if the ten year thing were true it would be fresh out of college."

"Okay, but in my head the girl didn't go to college. She's more street smarts, not the real streets though, more like sesame street smart."

"You really don't think much of me, do you?"

"And she's bubbly. Good childhood so she's close with her family, especially her father which is why she's got the whole turned on by men of authority thing going on. She's a pushover so you can easily control her, something you enjoy.. Am I close?"

"No, not at all."

"Fine, she went to community college." Norma said and Alex leaned back into his chair, shaking his head. "Okay, what is your type?"

"Do we have to play this game?"

"If you don't tell me I'm just gonna keep imagining the boppy college girl."

Alex paused a moment deciding on whether to expose those things about himself then he exhaled. "I don't like younger girls, at least not that much younger. No more than five years in either direction. I don't care if they went to college but they have to be smart enough to have an interesting conversation. And no pushovers, I prefer strong women."

"Really?" Norma said, surprised. "You know strong women won't take any of your shit, right? She asked and he only smirked in response. "Interesting."

"What about you, what's your type?"

"You're not even gonna try and guess?"

"It wouldn't be a guess if I said it, I'm already sure of the answer."

"You sure are full of yourself."

"Not really, I just can read people, it's like a gift."

"Try me."

"Okay, your type of guy is the typical asshole. You feel so little self worth, likely from bad experiences growing up so you think they are the only person you deserve. You're tough but you also enjoy having someone who can take care of you, but won't care enough to get in the way of you and your sons." Alex said and Norma stayed quiet a moment, picking at a splintered piece of wood on the table with her finger nail. "Am I close?"

"You made this game less fun." She said then they both looked at each other and chuckled.

"It's not true though."

"What?"

"You deserve way more than you give yourself credit for." Alex said and Norma looked away, trying to hide the hint of smile on her lips. "I'll let you get to bed." He said, standing up from his seat.

"I'll see you around."

"Always seems to be that way." Alex said, mimicking her earlier comment as he walked to his car.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Posting this chapter sooner than planned, figured since it was was so scarce I'd throw it on here already. Not any Normero interactions in this one but hopefully I'll make it up to everybody with the next one, this chapter is really just what I had planned as filler but worked better to put on it's own. I appreciate all the feedback and I love hearing what parts you guys are enjoying, so thank you all for that! Also to the reviewer who left the sweet long review, I'm glad you brought up Norma and Alex hanging out on the motel porch because it was something I realized I was I was always going back to when I wrote. It's like a staple in this story so much so that I even have a callback to it outlined for the very last chapter so it made me happy someone noticed the small things like that. As always let me know what you think, and please enjoy!

It didn't take long to contact one of Lynn's relatives and get permission for an autopsy, despite looking like a straightforward suicide with everything happening lately they wanted to be completely sure. When the toxicology screen came back Friday morning they were now sure of it, she died of an overdose on every drug stolen.

Oliver sat in his office chair and flipped through the pages of the report, looking up at the coroner who handed it to him. "Alright, we'll put down cause of death, cardiac arrest due to overdose."

"There is something else though." The coroner said then Oliver and Alex both looked to her waiting. "I checked over your report and it said the pill bottles at her residence were all empty."

"Yeah, she took them all."

"Her death occurred five days after the prescriptions were stolen, anything taken in that little of time would still show in her system but judging by the levels of each drug she couldn't have taken more than a forth of what she had available to her."

"There should still be pills leftover." Alex said and grabbed the file from Oliver looking at a few more pages till he got to a photo of Lynn's leg, it's up close to show a small red dot in the skin.

"When I realized it was too little of an amount I looked over the body more thoroughly."

"This is a puncture mark, like from a needle."

"Often times with drug addicts they will crush their pills and dissolve them in water so that they can be injected into the vein, giving them a much faster and more effective high. Of course that's usually happen with long time users, and are normally in the arm because it's easier to access, not the leg."

"Thank you doc." Oliver said and she gave them a quick smile before leaving the office.

"If she was injected then this wasn't an accidental suicide, someone did this to her and they still have the rest of the medication."

"We need to start an investigation, get information on who she had beef with."

"No." Alex said and pointed out a part in her file. "No forced entry, no sores on the body from being restrained or injured. Wouldn't you fight back if someone were trying to shoot you up with a needle?"

"You think it was someone she was close with, someone she trusted?"

"How else could someone get close enough to her to do this?"

"She could have been sleeping."

"The time of death was four in the afternoon, and all her doors and windows were locked. Until we know more we shouldn't let anyone else in on this, it could make finding her killer harder."

"So we just keep saying this was a suicide? Doctor Wilkins already knows she was injected with the drugs."

"Yeah, and Doctor Wilkins is required by law not to disclose this information with anyone else."

"If we rule this a suicide then the autopsy is over and she has the right to tell the family member who came forward."

"We can tell her to run more tests, that we want to be one hundred percent sure before we talk to anybody about this."

"I don't know about this Alex, this isn't how we are supposed to be handling things."

"You know how the people in this town are, if they feel threatened in anyway they won't say anything to give information away."

Oliver exhaled and glanced over the report again. "Two days, if we don't find anything by then we tell the family we are going to investigate."

"Sheriff?" Chloe said over the intercom.

"Yes?" Oliver said, holding the button.

"I have Missus Jacobson here to talk to you."

"Send her in." Oliver said and gathered up the papers for Lynn's file before closing it, he stood up and opened the office door as Cassandra reached it. "Come on in, take a seat. You want anything to drink? Coffee? Tea?"

"No, thank you." She said kindly, taking a seat in the chair across from him that Alex had stood up from.

"What can I help you with today Missus Jacobson?"

"I got a message about the attorneys wanting me to testify against my husband, to let them use everything my private eye found to get him sentenced."

"And what about it?" Alex asked.

"I'm not sure that's the right thing to do."

"Your husband cheated on you, he kept huge secrets from you, secrets that could be the reason behind your son's kidnapping and you are still trying to protect him?"

"Romero." Oliver said, stopping him from going any further.

"That is all clear to me and I am not trying to protect him, in my opinion he deserves more than what they can give him. But what about the fact that I learned what he was doing and I didn't tell anybody? I wouldn't care if I went to jail, that's not what I'm worried about. But when Riley comes home he already won't have a dad there, I can't leave him to."

"Missus Jacobson." Alex said, calmer now as he came and sat on the side of the desk. "Nothing is going to happen to you, if you testify we will make sure of it."

"You will?" She asked, wiping away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"You have our word." Oliver said.

"Thank you." She said and stood up. "I'll testify, I don't want him to get away with any of this."

"Well we are glad we could clear that up-" Oliver said then stopped when he noticed her staring down at something on his desk, he looked and noticed a photo of Lynn peeking out from the file in front of him, luckily the one from when she was alive. "Is something wrong? Do you know her?" He asked and Alex looked at what they were staring at.

"That's Amber."

"Yeah, Amber Lynn."

"How do you know her?" Alex asked.

"I meet her a few different times, she's Nick Ford's girlfriend. At least I assumed by the way she hung all over him, I'm not certain they were official since I saw him with different women before. She was with him last time the the private eye was watching Dan, he told me they were all arguing about money that Daniel owed him."

"Nick Ford." Oliver said, looking right at Alex and sharing a knowing look.

Over across town Norma and her sons walked out of White Pine Bay middle school and headed toward the elementary school that was right next to it.

"All your teachers seemed very nice." Norma said to Dylan.

"They always do at first."

"Well try not to give them so much trouble and they will stay that way." She said and Dylan smirked, glancing back at the outside of the school.

"At least it will be easy to find my classes in that school."

"It's not that small."

"It had one hallway and the cafeteria was just the gym with tables in it."

"Think of it this way, less students makes it easier to get to know everybody."

"I guess." Dylan said opening the door to Norman's school. "I just hope they put the tables up before they make us run laps."

Norma smiled at him while she opened the next door letting Norman and Dylan walk inside where they were quickly greeted by a woman set up at the table. "Welcome, can I get your name?"

"Norma Parker, my son Norman is starting here this year." Norma said running her hands on Norman's shoulders.

The woman peaked through her papers and pulled out a packet. "Here we are, Norman Parker, grade two." She said and held the packet out for Norma to grab. "It will have all the locations of each class he has outlined on the map and his locker number and combination so he can practice it if he'd like, or put any of his supplies in it already. If you have any questions or trouble finding something any of the adults with id tags can help you out."

"Thank you." Norma said taking it from her and walking further into the school with the her sons.

"Who is my teacher?" Norman asked.

"Why does it matter?" Dylan asked. "You don't know any of them."

"But I like girl teachers better, they are nicer."

Norma looked at the papers and read, "Missus Swanson."

Norman smiled happily and looked around at all the other students setting up their lockers. "Where is my locker?"

"It should be right next to your classroom which is coming up here." Norma said reading each one for his number till she found it. "Right here, locker thirty-seven."

"It's much nicer than my last one."

"Probably because it isn't from the eighteenth century like the crappy ones at our old school."

"Dylan, there are a bunch of little kids around, can you watch what you are saying." Norma said and pulled out the paper with Norman's locker combination on it, handing it to him. "You need any help putting it in?"

"No, I can do it." Norman said and took a couple tries to get it open. "Look, it's got a shelf on the bottom too so I don't have to reach up high to get my textbooks anymore."

"That's great sweetie." Norma said and set his bag of school supplies down next to his new locker, he started pulling stuff out and setting it up in all the exact places he wanted them. When he got to his notebooks he pulled them out and was going to set them on the top shelf when he heard a small voice beside him.

"You like animals?"

Norman looked over at the girl who had the locker beside him, she was standing next to him excitedly with oxygen tubes placed in her nose. "Yeah." He replied shyly.

"I kinda guessed by your notebook." She said and Norman looked at the bird covered notebook in his hand, finally putting it into his locker. "I'm Emma."

"Norman." He said with his eyes still scanning the strange equipment she had. "Why do you have that thing on your face?"

Dylan elbowed his little brother, getting his attention. "You aren't supposed to ask that Norman."

"No, it's okay, I get that question a lot." Emma said sweetly and rolled out her decorated tank. "This is my pet, I got a medical problem where I need oxygen sometimes to help me breathe, I just got over a cold so it helps to have it with me."

"So you don't have to carry it around all the time?"

"No, the doctors say one day I might have to though if it gets much worse, but I try not to worry about that too much yet."

"Where are your parents?" Norma asked, noticing no adults around her.

"My dad couldn't make it, he's a professor in another city. And my mom had errands to run so she just dropped me off here."

"It's okay for you to be on your own?"

"When I'm around my dad he doesn't let me leave his side most the time, he's a little over protective. But I go to school on my own so being here today alone is okay."

"Don't you need help finding your classes?"

"This is the second year I'm taking this grade, last year when I first got sick I was in and out of the hospital. It got too hard to keep up with my school work so they had me stay back in second another time. I have all the same teachers, they even let me have my old locker back." Emma said and opened her locker more to show off the decorated interior. "See."

"That's so cool, can we do that to mine mother?" Norman said, looking over the colored contact paper she used to cover the inside of her door.

"We don't have stuff to do it with today but we can next time we are here." Norma said.

"I have extra stuff you can use, we can do it together after you meet our teacher."

"We have the same teacher?" Norman asked.

"Anyone with lockers in this area has Missus Swanson, and we're lucky because she is the best teacher in the whole entire school. Here, I'll introduce you to her." Emma said and grabbed a hold of his hand, pulling him toward the classroom.

"He already has more friends than he had at our last school."

"He has had friends before."

"The teachers don't count."

"Come on." Norma said, playfully shoving Dylan toward Norman's classroom.

Later in the afternoon Alex leaned against his car, watching the exit of a private airport in the town next to his. After everything he learned today he didn't want to wait till Ford got back to his house to talk to him, and his chat with Blair earlier in the week seemed to pay off because she had agreed to pick him up. That was until Alex gave her a call, pretending to be one of her father's workers and claimed that his flight got switched to earlier in the day, knowing that she had orientations at the high school she worked for then. When she said she couldn't make it to pick him up she gratefully took up his offer to do it for her, and got all the information about where to pick him up at. Ford exited the airport with his bags in hand, when he noticed Alex outside he showed a look of surprise but only for a moment before going back to his stone cold expression.

"Officer Romero." Ford said, walking right up to him. "Sorry, it's Deputy now, right?"

"Nick, how was your trip?" Alex said, nothing in his voice sounding as if he cared for an actual answer.

"Well you know what they say about the bahamas this time of the year."

"Yeah, that it's hurricane season there."

Ford smirked. "And what brings you here."

"Oh you hadn't heard, I'm your ride."

"My daughter told me she would pick me up."

"Yeah, but then I spoke to her-"

"You talked to Blair?"

"Don't worry, I didn't talk to her the way Daniel Jacobson did."

"What is this about?"

"Strange time for you to go on a trip, isn't it? Maybe even a little suspicious."

"Last time I checked going on a vacation wasn't illegal."

"No, just awfully convenient." Alex said and leaned off his car, straightening up. "The son of one of your former employees goes missing, one who not only owed you a huge chunk of money but also was sleeping with your daughter. Then the woman that you've been seeing robs her own workplace and overdoses on the drugs."

"I understand what you are getting at, you think I should probably start hanging around better people."

Alex stepped closer to Ford, even with his height being shorter than Nick's he still managed to look more intimidating. "Don't play me for an idiot, I may not have been able to find anything to take you down with but I know who you are and what you do." He said then he walked away from him and got into his car, driving off and leaving Ford standing alone in the parking lot.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This chapter turned out to be way longer than expected, I had so much planned out for it and I didn't feel like splitting it into two chapters so sorry for the long read. Thank you to everyone that is still reading and that is giving this story their support! That being said please let me know what you think and enjoy!

It took a matter of two days for Norman to become such good friends with Emma Decody that he got invited over to her home for a sleepover, Norma could never understand how easy it was for kids their age to bond like that. You find one similarity liked their shared love of animals then bam, you might as well tie their hands together because they aren't going to leave each others side. In her old neighborhood it took her years to get to know everyone, and even before she left she still couldn't stand a few of them. Although this town did feel different, she already felt a good friendship with Maggie and she thought of Alex as a friend, although she wasn't sure the feeling was mutual, he was always so hard to read.

"Mother?" Norman said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, Norman?"

"Do you know where my bird book is? I told Emma I would bring it so she could read it."

"Weren't you reading it yesterday in the office?"

"Oh yeah." Norman said then headed out the motel door.

"Do I really have to go with?" Dylan asked while he was packing up his bag. "They are just going to talk about that stupid book all night or watch some disney movie."

"This is Norman's first ever sleepover, I want you to be there to look after him."

"Isn't that what her parents are there for?"

"I don't trust that that mother will watch them properly, when we met her outside the school she didn't seem to have much interest in taking care of her own daughter."

"But her dad's in town for the weekend and she said he is overprotective."

"It still doesn't matter, you know how Norman is. He has only known Emma a couple days and as well as they get along once it's time for bed he is going to get scared if he doesn't have you there with him. He really wants to go tonight so can you just go so he's comfortable, who knows, you might even have fun." Norma said and Dylan nodded. "I'm gonna run errands so I wrote down my new cell number, if either of you need anything at all call me." She said and handed him the post it note, he shoved it in his front pocket then went back to packing his stuff.

"Found it." Norman said, coming back into the room.

"What took you so long?"

"Maggie was talking to me, she told me since me and Dylan aren't going to be here tonight you don't have to worry about making dinner for just the two of you, that she can just whip something up quick."

"She's getting take out, isn't she?"

"She said chinese food." Norman said with a smile then he walked over and put his book in his bag.

"You boys ready to go?"

"Yeah, all set." Norman said, putting his backpack on his shoulders. "Let's go."

Over at the police station Alex was sitting at his desk having just got back from a call, someone had called in when they heard a fair amount of fighting coming from the home next to them. After looking into it he found that it was in fact fighting, however it was coming from the television set not from the actual residents. He ran his hands over his face, all the stress of the last few weeks taking a toll on him.

"Romero, you look like crap." Oliver said, walking up beside him.

"Always great to hear." Alex said, letting his hands fall to his lap and turning in his chair to face him.

"You're coming tonight, right?"

"Well since you threatened to demote me if I don't come I guess I'm gonna have to."

"Don't say it like that."

"How should I say it?"

"I don't know, tell me how excited you are, maybe jump up and down a little."

"I'm sorry." Alex said, sincerely. "Just with everything we've had going on it seems weird to be celebrating."

"It's the perfect time, everyone is so stressed out, we need to let loose a little. And what better to celebrate to than five years of marriage to my beautiful wife."

"You know most husbands take their wives out to a fancy dinner, not throw a party at their house and make her clean up after."

"I help her clean up."

"You mean the one time you weren't passed out on the lawn?"

"Hey, I don't always pass out in the yard."

"Only because it rained two years ago and we had to stay inside, and I think the bathroom floor might be arguably worse."

"Be there at five." Oliver said with a smirk as he left the room.

Taking the opportunity she had with the boys at Emma's house Norma went to the store after work, Dylan's real birthday was in a little over a week and despite not being anywhere near his new birthday she couldn't go without celebrating it. It wasn't till looking threw half the store that she realized she had no clue how to shop for him anymore, each year was harder than the last and nowadays he didn't like much of anything. She assumed it was a phase, all the other mothers she knew always brought up their sons change in attitude as they got older. If she only had them to talk to now she would ask what she was supposed to do, then she got an idea. She pulled out her cellphone and went to her contacts, finding one name and clicking call.

"Romero." Alex answered after a few rings.

"What would a boy turning twelve want for his birthday?"

"Norma?"

"Yes."

"How did you get my number?"

"Maggie gave it to me, it was in case anything serious broke at the motel and I needed to contact you."

"But nothing is broken."

"I know, but I need help."

"You sure do." Alex joked.

"Which is better, Pokémon or Yu-Gi-Oh!?" Norma asked, not pronouncing either of them close to how they were supposed to be.

"What?"

"They are like playing cards."

"I have no clue what either of those things are, and I don't know how to pick presents for kids."

"What did you want when you were twelve?"

"Whiskey."

"Seriously, Alex."

"I don't know, that was a long time ago."

"Think back, what did your parents get you for your birthdays?"

"We didn't really celebrate birthdays much, my dad didn't think people deserved presents for no reason."

"You never got gifts?" Norma asked, feeling sad for his younger self.

"I guess my friends gave me stuff sometimes."

"Which thing was your favorite?" Norma asked and he thought about it a moment.

"Probably the BB gun my friend Bob gave me when I turned ten."

"Okay, how about a gift that wouldn't put one or both of my sons eyes out."

Alex exhaled through the phone. "It doesn't really matter what I liked, Dylan could be completely different."

"I doubt that, you are like a taller, somewhat less cranky version of him."

"What kind of things does he like?"

"He doesn't like anything anymore, he's so picky now."

"Well what does he do everyday?"

"He's always playing with the gameboy Maggie let him keep from the lost and found."

"There you go, you could get him another game for that."

"That's actually not a bad idea, he only has some Donkey game. Hold on a minute." Norma said and walked toward the gaming aisle, while she was doing that the sliding door next to Alex opened and Chloe walked inside.

"You hiding in here?" Chloe asked and Alex shook his head and waved the phone that was in his hand. "Oh, sorry." She whispered. "I'm just coming to get more cups."

"Okay, I'm in the aisle." Norma said over the phone. "What's a good game?"

"I don't know, the last time I played video games there was a lever and one button."

Norma looked around and picked up a game. "What is Zelda?"

"I have no clue what Zelda is, Norma." Alex said as Chloe was walking by him again.

"Oh, it's an adventure game. You go around fighting creatures and completing quests to save princess Zelda."

"You get all that?" Alex asked Norma.

"Yeah, who is that in the background?"

"It's Chloe, she's the front desk worker you met."

"Oh, I didn't know you were at work, I wouldn't be keeping you this long."

"I'm not at work."

"You're not?"

"No, Oliver is having a gathering at his house and he insisted that I came. You are actually saving me from a bunch of useless chit chat, everyone here is extremely boring."

"I'm standing right here." Chloe said.

"I meant the other people, not you."

"Okay, I guess I'll get him this game, it sounds like something he would like." Norma said.

"I'm sure he'll like it."

"Is she buying games for her sons?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, the older one got a gameboy out of Maggie's lost and found and it only has some monkey game."

"Donkey." Norma corrected and he ignored it, not feeling the need to clarify himself.

"Oh, tell her she should get Mario Kart too, it's a must have for gameboys."

"The racing one?" Norma asked.

"She said the racing one?" Alex said and Chloe nodded. "Yeah."

"Got it, it looks like a good game for him. I'll probably still pick out a few other things but I can let you get back to your get together, thank you for helping me out."

"Anytime."

"And thank Chloe for me."

"I will." Alex said and was about to say goodbye when the sliding door flew open again and Oliver wandered in.

"Who are you on the phone with?" Oliver asked, trying to whisper but failing miserably.

"Norma." Alex said.

"Oh, let me see the phone, I wanna talk to her." Oliver said and grabbed his phone away without giving him much of a say.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked.

"Norma?" Oliver asked through the phone.

"Yes?"

"This is sheriff Mackenzie."

"Will you give me my phone back?" Alex said, reaching for it and Oliver slapped his hand. "That was juvenile."

"What are you doing right now?" Oliver asked.

"I'm at the store."

"Is it your day off?"

"I worked earlier but I'm off now."

"Are your sons with you?"

"They are having a sleepover at their friends house."

"That's perfect." Oliver said, smirking at Alex.

"Perfect?" Norma asked.

"What's perfect, what are you doing?" Alex asked.

"We are having a little party at me and my wives house, it would be nice if you would join us."

"I don't know-" Norma got out before Oliver started talking again.

"We've got good food, drinks, and we are in desperate need of guests who aren't dull as ditchwater."

"Honestly, still standing right here." Chloe said from beside them and Alex reached out and took his phone back, quickly walking in the other direction to keep Oliver from grabbing the phone again.

"Tell her she's coming, it's an order from the sheriff." Oliver yelled as Alex reached one of the rooms and went inside, closing the door behind him.

"Sorry, he just grabbed the phone out of my hands."

"That's fine." Norma said with a laugh. "He really isn't what you expect when you think about a sheriff, I always imagined someone gruff and grumbly, someone like you."

"Thanks." Alex said in a sarcastic tone. "Normally he's a little more serious but you get a few cocktails in him and he doesn't stop running his mouth."

"I noticed, but he's nice."

"He has his moments." Alex said while peeking into the other room, seeing them both gone he walked back out and stood in the living room again as a bunch of cheers broke outside, he wasn't sure why and he didn't really care to.

"Your get together sounds more like a rager to me."

"It's a bunch of officers drinking Mojitos and prank calling the rookies at the station, it's all pretty ridiculous."

"So what you are saying is if I wanted to rob the bank in town now would be the time to do it?" She asked, jokingly.

Alex looked outside through the glass door and noticed they had started a game of charades. "Hell I'll even help you, get enough cash to get far away from this town." He said and Norma laughed, outside everyone screamed again when someone guessed the right answer.

"Is this what the law enforcement normally does on Sunday nights?"

"No, not usually. But it's Oliver and his wives five year anniversary, plus with everything going on lately they wanted to take a night just to celebrate and forget about everything else."

"I understand that completely, I wish I could do that most the time."

"Well I know it was a drunken offer from someone you've met for less than a minute but if you wanted to you could come, if you don't have anything else to do."

"Wouldn't it be weird? I mean I don't know anybody there."

"You know me, and it would give you a chance to meet some of the people in town."

"I don't know if I'd wanna come and crash your party."

"Well it's not my party, and as long as you don't start throwing things or dancing on tables you will already be a better guest then some of the people that came last year."

"If those same guests are there I'll come, sounds like some fun people."

Alex smirked. "They aren't, but at the rate the drinks are flowing I'm sure someone will do something stupid soon."

"I guess it would be nice to have a night out, the last time I was at a party that didn't have a clown I was in highschool."

"What makes you think we don't have a clown at this party?" Alex said, making Norma chuckle.

"After I'm finished here I have to run back to the motel quick to put stuff away, but I can stop over after."

"Alright, Maggie's got the address for Oliver's house and I'm sure she'll give it to you willingly. You can come around to the backyard when you get here."

"Okay, I will see you soon." Norma said and they both said goodbye.

Norma hurried and finished up shopping so she had time to go home and get ready, if she was meeting a bunch of new people tonight she wanted to make a good first impression. She had picked out a new dress while she was out that would be perfect for tonight, it was a white sleeveless dress with light blue floral patterns and a dark blue thin strapped belt across the waist. She did her hair up as much as she could in a short period of time, keeping it with a casual look. When she pulled up to the house and turned off her car she could already hear the noise coming from the backyard, she did a double check in her mirror before hopping out of the car and walking to the back. She looked around at the amount of people, there couldn't have been more than twenty people but somehow her heart began to race. She almost turned around to leave quick when Alex came up to her.

"You made it." He said, a slight smile on his face that somehow made her feel better already.

"I just followed the noise." She joked. "I suppose it's nice to have a party where you don't have anyone calling the cops on you."

"Oh no, they still do once it gets later."

"Hey, is this Norma?" A woman said, walking up to them with a big smile.

"Yeah." Alex said, brushing his hand across her back as he spoke. "Norma this is Krista, Oliver's wife."

"Nice to meet you." Norma said with a smile, shaking her hand. "And happy anniversary."

"Ah, thank you. You're so sweet." Krista said then elbowed at Alex. "She's so sweet, Alex."

"Yes, very sweet." Alex said dryly and Norma smirked at him.

"Where's your drink at?" Krista asked, looking at Norma's empty hands.

"I just got here."

"Alex, you haven't offered the girl a drink yet, where did your manners go?" Krista said, linking arms with Norma. "Follow me, I'll get you something." She said and they started walking to the tables set up outside. "I love this dress by the way."

"Oh, thank you, I just got it today."

"It's gorgeous." Krista said then she grabbed an already made Mojito and handed it to Norma.

"I actually drove here so I really can't be drinking."

"Don't worry about it, we'll find you a ride home. A few people aren't drinking and there are always cabs, one year we had some of the rookies pick up people and drive them home."

"Okay, but only one." Norma said and took a sip, wincing at the taste.

"You like it?"

"It's strong."

"Yeah, sorry about that. Someone lost the measuring cup so we've just been pouring the rum straight in." Krista said then Norma took a much smaller sip. "Let me introduce you to everyone."

An hour and two drinks later Norma had met everyone at the party, making small talk with each one. She'd been told many times how funny she was, although she assumed that was just from the amount of alcohol they had in their systems. She finally broke away from the group long enough to search for Alex, not having seen him since she got there.

"Hey." Norma said, sitting down next to him on the bench swing. "You abandoned me."

"Sorry, I'm not much for socializing."

"Neither am I, but do you know how many terrible cop jokes I heard already?"

"Did they tell you the one about the man who speeds off from a sheriff because years ago his wife left him for a sheriff and he thought he was bringing her back?"

"Three times." Norma said, holding up that many fingers.

"Everyone here tells that joke."

"It was from the same guy every time, I think his name was Ted."

"Sounds about right."

"They think I'm hilarious by the way."

"Well they are drunk."

Norma smirked over at him. "Yeah, I knew they were pretty drunk when they thought my joke about getting out of a speeding ticket was funny."

"What was the joke?"

"I'm not telling you, it's too stupid."

"I promise I won't mock you, no matter how stupid."

"Okay." Norma said and took a breath. "A man is speeding down the highway, going way faster than he should be then a cop comes up behind him and pulls him over. When the officer gets to the car he asks for his license and registration, the man driving says sorry, I can't sir. My license has been expired for months and I don't know how to register a stolen vehicle. The cop looks at him, shocked by what he is saying and asks if he has been drinking or using any drugs today? The man says just the fifth of vodka I had with breakfast but that was over an hour ago. But I never got to smoke my marijuana, it's still in the glovebox if you want to split it. The officer makes him get out of the car and cuffs him then puts him into the squad car, he asks if there is anything else illegal in the car that he wants to tell him about before he searches it. The man says I have a pistol under my front seat and a dead body in the trunk. Hearing this the officer called in a bunch of backup, when they get there the man claims he didn't say any of that and they search his car and find nothing illegal, they give him a breathalyzer and it comes back negative, he shows them his license and registration and everything comes back clear. Afterward the man is released from the car and another cop comes up to him and says the officer sure made up a lot of stuff about you, the man laughs and says I bet he even said I was speeding." Norma said and Alex chuckled.

"That is actually pretty funny."

"Obviously you are drunk too then."

"Yes, because the bottle of water I had when I got here had a high proof on it."

Norma looked around and noticed the water sitting on the table beside him. "Wait, you aren't drinking?"

"No, not tonight."

"It's a party, isn't there some rule against being sober?"

"I'm not drinking because although Oliver trusts that the rookies can handle things for one night I don't want them to be the only ones conscious if something big happens."

"Are you one of those people that only think about work?"

"What else is there?"

"I don't know, life."

"My work is my life."

"That's pretty pathetic."

"Says the woman with a fake name." Alex said and instantly regretted it, he glanced over expecting her to be angry but instead she laughed.

"Touche." Norma said then took a sip of her third drink. "Lameness aside I gotta hand it to them though, they make really good cocktails."

"They make terrible drinks, you've just had enough that they start tasting good."

"That could be true because I hated them earlier." Norma said and set down the cup on the table next to them. "Really though, what do you do when you aren't working?"

Alex shrugged. "I work a lot so I don't get much free time."

"But in the little time you get, what do you do?"

"I like to fish."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"You have me tell you what I do just to mock it?"

Norma smirked. "I'm not mocking, it's just, you seem like the kind of guy that likes to sit on a boat in the middle of a lake, no one around to bug you, hour on hours of silence."

"I don't actually have a boat, I do however have a nice secluded spot at this large creek. It's a great view, the water is so clear you can see the fish swimming around in it and the area is surrounded by woods so you get the perfect amount of sunlight coming through the trees."

"That sounds beautiful."

"It is, I go there a lot in the warmer months."

"Do you take anyone there with you?"

"Sometimes, my father's friend Declan was the first one to take me there. And I have taken old friends there, and Oliver of course."

"What about lady friends?"

"Maggie came with Keith, and Krista with Oliver."

"I meant ladies you were trying to impress, it seems like a good place to take a girl you are looking to show your "fishing" techniques to." Norma said, using her hands to make air quotes.

Alex glanced over at her with squinted eyes. "How strong are those drinks?"

"Pretty damn strong." She said, picking hers back up and taking another sip. "Come on, I want details."

"There aren't any, I don't take anyone there for that."

"That's sad, you got a spot that could easily be catnip for women and you're letting it go to waste."

"I don't like using gimmicks to get women, if they don't like me enough to want me wherever we are then what's the point?"

"Want you anywhere?" Norma said slyly.

"I don't mean it like that."

"So you are looking for a woman who would see you sitting over here all alone at a party, sipping from your water bottle and thinking about how many more tickets you can give out this month?"

"I'm not sitting alone, besides no one at this party cares anyways."

"I think someone does." Norma said, smiling at him.

Alex furrowed his brow, wondering if he was understanding her right. "What?"

"Chloe, your front desk lady. I was chatting with her earlier and she didn't talk about anything other than you."

"Oh, yeah." He said, looking down at his hands.

"Wait, you know she's into you?"

"It was pretty clear from the beginning, and I may have made it a little worse."

"Why, what did you do to her?" Norma asked and Alex winced a little. "Oh god, did you sleep withher?"

"No." Alex said quickly. "I flirted with her quite a bit, I needed to sneak around the office without her telling anybody and it seemed like a good way to get her on my side."

"I don't know whether to be disgusted or impressed."

"I'm pretty disgusted about it myself."

"But why just flirt? She's so sweet, and she's attractive. Why not go for it?"

"She's my coworker, and even if she wasn't she is a twenty-four year old who knows video game descriptions off the top of her head. That's not really my type."

"Right, your type, the strong willed woman who can kick your ass."

"No, I can take her." Alex said then quickly realized how bad that sounded to a formerly abused wife. "Of course I wouldn't though." He said, his voice sounding worried.

"Calm down, I know what you meant." Norma said just as Krista walked over to them.

"Norma, there you are. Oliver's friend Jim just got here and he's dying to hear you're impression of the old lady getting pulled over for a broken tail light."

"Really?" Alex asked as Norma stood up.

"Gotta give the people what they want." Norma said then walked off with Krista.

What started as telling one joke turned into another hour and a half of chatting with all the officers and their spouses, and three more drinks including the one she was already drinking when she left Alex. She had no plans of finishing her first one let alone five but people kept handing her a fresh cup everytime she was done with hers. It felt strange drinking, she had never done it much since the boys had been born. Getting a night to herself wasn't something she ever had, Sam would go out all the time and leave her at home to take care of things. Right now she couldn't understand how he could do it, she had just excused herself to go to the bathroom after she started feeling an overwhelming amount of guilt. She wasn't sure why, it wasn't like the boys were at home while she was out partying and getting drunk, they were at a sleepover and probably having the time of their lives. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that she was abandoning them. It hit her all at once and she started to cry in front of the sink, using the counter to hold herself up properly. A few minutes later she heard a light knock at the door, followed by a voice.

"Norma?" Alex said from outside the door. "Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah." Norma said, her voice still shaky from trying not to cry.

"Are you sick?"

"No, I'm fine." She said, running the sink and splashing her tear filled face with cold water.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Alex." She said while wiping her face with a dry towel, she quickly fixed herself as much as she could and walked out of the bathroom.

The bathroom door opened and Norma almost slammed right into him, assuming he had walked away already. She froze in place and he looked her over, she was about to walk past him when he stepped toward her blocking her path. "What happened?"

"Nothing, nothing happened?"

"Did someone say something that bothered you?"

"No, everyone was great." Norma said and he stared at her, giving her that look that always made her feel like she had to defend herself further. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

Norma chuckled. "Gee, Alex, you know what women love to hear."

"Norma, don't make jokes with me. What is really going on?"

Norma paused and tried to hold back the rush of feelings that was coming, she failed and started to cry again. "I miss my sons."

"Is that what this is about?" Alex asked, watching her closely as she nodded her head in response.

"I abandoned them."

"Aren't they at a sleepover?"

"Yes."

"Then how are you abandoning them?"

"I don't know." Norma said and sniffled her nose. "I've never spent a night away from them, this is the first time."

"The first time away from your kids is always hard, and the alcohol is making your emotions a lot stronger. But what you are feeling is normal, and it makes you a good mother for feeling that way."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He said and she lunged forward and gave him a hug. His hands staying at his sides a moment while he processed what was happening then he reached them around her back, giving a light squeeze to comfort her. "How about I drive you home? We can get you a ton of water to dilute the booze in your system and you can call your sons, maybe hearing their voices will help you feel better."

"Okay." Norma said, still holding onto him.

"Norma, you're gonna have to let go of me so I can walk."

"Sorry." Norma said, loosening her grip on him. He didn't let go completely, letting one of his arms wrap around her side. She reached back to the bathroom counter and grabbed her purse then Alex helped guide her to the door. When they got near the foyer the sliding door opened and Chloe walked into the house, both of them turned to look back at her.

"You leaving already?" She asked, examining their close vicinity to each other.

"I'm bringing Norma home, she isn't feeling good." Alex said. "Can you let Oliver and Krista know I'm leaving?"

"Yeah, I'll let them know." Chloe said then smiled at Norma. "It was nice seeing you again, I hope you feel better."

"You too, thank you."

"Night, Chloe." Alex said then they resumed their exit, keeping her close to him as they walked so she wouldn't fall. "Where's your keys?" He said once they reached the car.

"I thought you were driving me home?"

"I am, but I don't have my car with."

"How did you plan on getting home tonight?"

"I live six blocks away, I was going to walk."

"Why would you do that? You weren't even drinking yet and you were gonna walk home in the dark." Norma said and paused. "Unless you weren't planning on it."

"Can you just give me your keys?"

"Not until you tell me why you didn't drink. Come to think of it I remember hearing a couple different stories about you drinking at these parties before."

"I didn't feel like drinking tonight."

"Then why didn't you drive here?"

"What do you have against me walking?"

"I don't have anything against it, I normally take long walks in the pitch dark too."

"The keys?" Alex said, holding out his hand.

"Oh my god, are you pregnant?" Norma said in a serious tone before laughing.

"I didn't drink because you were coming." He blurted out.

"What?" Norma said, stopping her laughing. "What do I have to do with it?" She asked and Alex remained silent, clearly embarrassed he let that out. "Are you scared of getting drunk in front of me?"

"No." Alex said quickly. "I figured you were going to be drinking and I wanted to make sure you had a safe way home."

"You didn't have to do that, Krista said they would find me a way back."

"She says that to everyone, most years they wind up having a bunch of drunk idiots camping out on their living room floor because they can't find a ride home."

"Still, you didn't have to do that, I would have figured out something."

"It wasn't a big deal, I hate these parties whether I have alcohol in my system or not so it doesn't really make a difference."

Norma smiled at him and pulled out her keys, handing them to him and holding onto his hand a moment while she did so. "Thank you." She said then he nodded and opened up the passenger side door for her, helping her get inside.

They drove pretty quietly most of the way, Alex assumed she was getting tired when in reality she couldn't stop thinking about the man sitting next to her. She kept glancing over at him as he drove, admiring how focused he looked on the road ahead of them, like if he were to look away for one second he would get distracted and swerve out of control. She laughed to herself at the thought and Alex glanced over at her a second.

"Something funny?" He asked, his eyes going right back to where they had been.

"No, I just had a few too many Mojitos." Norma said and he nodded before turning onto the highway that lead to the motel. Within a couple minutes they were pulling up in front of her motel room, Alex got right out and went over to her door, opening it and helping her out. "Very gentlemanly." She said as he helped her walk to the motel door, she reached over and grabbed the car keys from him and went to her motel key. She got the door opened fairly easily for the state she was in and they went inside, she clicked on the light and shut the door behind them. Alex walked her toward her bed and helped her sit down, walking right off after he was sure she was secure. "Where are you going?" She said in a worried tone.

"I'm getting you a glass of water." Alex said, grabbing out a plastic cup from the pack she had on the dresser and walking to the bathroom sink to fill it. He came back moments later and handed it to her. "Here, drink as much as you can."

Norma drank a fair amount before setting the cup onto the night stand, she turned herself sideways to try and lay down but it wasn't working that well. "Can you give me your arm, I want to lay down but the room won't stop spinning."

"Sure." Alex said and wrapped his arm around her, sitting on the side of her bed to help her lay down. He let go of her once she was in place but remained by her side. "You okay now?"

"Yes, I'm good." Norma said then she looked up at him, he didn't show any indication of what emotion he was feeling which normally bugged her but for some reason in this moment she found it alluring. She looked away quickly, dropping her gaze to his body. She had never really looked at him this way and she didn't know what was making her do it now, she knew he could clearly see her when he shifted like he was ready to stand up but she reached over to the part of his arm just under where his tee shirt was.

Alex glanced down at where her hand was playing with his arm, gently pushing the sleeve of it up higher and showing off his biceps. "Norma, what are you doing?"

"Looking for tattoo's, you look like the type of guy who might have them."

"I don't." Alex said and her hand remained in place, tracing her fingertips on his skin. "I'm going to refill your water before I leave, then you can get some sleep."

Norma dropped her hand down and looked at him oddly. "Okay, fine." She said as if she were disappointed then Alex stood up from the bed, leaving into the bathroom. Before he came back Norma heard a ringing coming from her purse across the room. "Alex!" She yelled.

"What?" He said, hurrying back out into the room.

"My phone's going off, can you grab it for me." She said and Alex nodded, going over and grabbing her phone quick then handing it to her. "Hello?" She answered.

"Mother, can you come pick us up?" Norman said frantically from the other line.

Norma sat up quickly on the bed, suddenly feeling completely sober. "What's wrong?"

"We were supposed to being going to sleep but I got scared, Emma's parents already went to bed and I don't want to wake them up."

"Is your brother still awake?"

"Yes, so is Emma. They told us to go to bed an hour ago but we pretended to be asleep and stayed up talking."

"What's going on?" Alex whispered.

"Norman, can you hold on a second sweetie." Norma said into the phone.

"Yes."

Norma covered the phone with her hand and looked at Alex. "Norman's scared and wants to come home, he said Emma's parents are already asleep."

"Where does Emma live?"

"In the village, her mom owns a clothing and jewelry shop there and they live up above it."

"Aubrey Decody's place?"

"Yes, that's her mom."

"I know where that is, I can go pick them up and bring them back."

"Would you?"

"Of course, you can get some rest before they get here."

"Mother? Are you still there?" Norman asked.

"Yeah honey, I'm still here." Norma said, uncovering the phone. "I'm not feeling to well but Deputy Romero is at the motel helping Maggie out with something and he said he will pick Dylan and you up and bring you here."

"Okay, how long will he be?"

"He's going to leave right now, it won't be more than a few minutes so get all your stuff ready to go."

"Okay, bye mother."

"Bye sweetie, see you in a little bit." Norma said then Norman hung up the phone, Dylan staring over at him.

"How long will who be?" Dylan asked.

"Deputy Romero, he's picking us up."

"Are you guys in trouble?" Emma asked.

"No, he's Norma's boyfriend." Dylan said dryly.

"He's not moms boyfriend." Norman said defensively.

"Then why is he picking us up?"

"Because she isn't feeling well."

"If she isn't feeling well why is he there with her?"

"He wasn't with her, he was helping Maggie."

"I'm sure that was his story, really how many things need to be fixed at that motel?"

"She said we have to get our things ready, he's going to be here soon." Norman said, getting up and gathering his stuff. Not long after they watched as Alex pulled up in Norma's car and walked downstairs, Emma let them out so she could lock the door behind them and they walked over to the car where Alex was already getting out to open the trunk.

"You can get in the car already, I'll put it away." Dylan said and grabbed Norman's bag from him before walking around to the back.

"Here, I can help you." Alex said reaching toward one of the bags.

"I don't need help, I got it." Dylan said rudely, throwing both bags into the back and standing up on his tippy toes to pull the hatchback down, the whole time avoiding eye contact with Alex.

"Hey." Alex said sharply. "I know you have a problem with me and I don't know why but can you do me a favor, don't give your mom a hard time tonight. She cares about you and Norman more than you could imagine and she needs someone to be there for her right now."

"Yeah, fine." Dylan said then walked over and got into the car.

The ride home was quiet, Norman falling asleep in the back of the car on the way, had he stayed at Emma's a few minutes longer and stopped worrying he would have done the same there. When they pulled up to the motel Dylan went to wake Norman but Alex got to his door and unbuckled his seatbelt, lifting him out of the car in one quick motion. Dylan got out and grabbed the bags from the back then followed Alex toward the door, speed walking to open it for him.

"Thanks." Alex said as they stepped into the room. He looked over at Norma who was sitting up on her bed, he figured she must have been crying while he was gone since her eyes were puffy again.

"He crash already?" Norma asked, looking at her small child in Alex's arms.

"About two seconds into the ride." Alex said and walked him over to the bed, Norma moved the blankets out of the way so he could lay him down and he reached over and covered him up with it. He walked back to the other side of the room, closer to the door. "I'm gonna have Maggie give me a ride home, make sure to hydrate." He said, being discrete enough in case she didn't tell them she wasn't exactly sick.

"Thank you.. For everything."

Alex gave her a small smile. "Goodnight." He said then looked over at Dylan. "Bye Dylan."

Dylan gave him a quick wave and watched as he walked out the door, a big part of him wanted to grill his mom about what was really going on but when he looked over at her he saw how exhausted she looked. "You need anything before I go to sleep?"

"I think I left my water in the bathroom, if you wouldn't mind-"

"Yeah." Dylan said and retrieved her cup of water then brought it over to her.

"Thank you." She said with a smile.

"Night Norma." Dylan said and walked over to his bed.

"Night." Norma said and took a sip of her water before laying down, just like Norman with the comfort of knowing they would be together she feel to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I'm glad all of you liked the last chapter and thank you so much for the feedback, it was definitely a fun one to write and the real beginning of a closer friendship between our favorite couple. This chapter is a lot of Norma and Dylan which I'm also very happy people are enjoying, I can't even express how much I loved their relationship on the show. I've never been one to cry during television shows but their ' _you bought me a ticket_ ' scene at the end of season two had me tearing up because I love their dynamic so much. But enough of my fangirl ramblings, let me know what you think and enjoy!

It had been over a week and Norma had successfully avoided the topic of her drunken night with both her sons and Alex, of course Alex knew of it but she wasn't going to talk to him about how she basically felt him up. Being she was drunk she decided to play it off as if she had barely remembered a thing, even though she could still picture every single moment of it. She felt pretty ridiculous ever since it had happened, now was not the time to be flirting with a guy she was sure had no interest in her. He obviously thought she was attractive, she could tell by the way he looked at her. And he took enough pity on their sad story to feel the need to help them, but that was the extent of it. He made that pretty clear when she was ready to throw herself at him and he didn't respond at all, unless he was one of the few guys that wouldn't take advantage of a woman in that condition, she still wasn't sure. Either way today was not the day to be thinking about it, her oldest baby boy was turning twelve years old.

"Are you excited for your last day of your first week?" Norma asked, flipping the pancakes in the pan. Her and the boys were inside Maggie's house while she was making breakfast.

"I would be if it were the last day of the last week." Dylan said, flicking the napkin football he made at Norman's open hands.

"You said you like this school."

"I did."

"Did? It's been four days, how could you find something to dislike already?"

"They are making us run the mile in gym today, our last school waited at least a month before they did that."

"And now you won't have to worry about it a month from now."

"Unless they decide to add another one."

"I doubt they will do that." Norma said then brought over two plates of food and set them in front of the boys.

"Oh, chocolate chip pancakes." Norman said excitedly, looking at his breakfast.

"And whip cream." Dylan said, noticing the smiley face drawn on his. "You always say we can't have anything too sweet in the morning."

"This is a special occasion, you didn't think I would forget your birthday?"

"My birthday is supposed to be November fourteenth now."

"Just because that's what's on paper doesn't mean today isn't your birthday, this same day twelve years ago you were born."

"Yeah Norma, I understand what a birthday is." Dylan said and looked up at her. "Thank you."

"Eat it quick, you're gonna want that sugar to hit before you have to run the mile."

"You know since it is my birthday you could write me a note, say that I hurt my ankle and get me out of it."

"You've been on this earth twelve years, what do you think my answer is going to be to that?"

"No." Dylan said.

"Well at least you learned something." Norma said rustling his hair, he reached up and fixed it, smiling once she had walked away.

"You know what tomorrow is?" Dylan asked while he cut up his pancakes.

"What?"

"It will be one month since we left."

"Left dad?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, we left on the sixth last month and that's tomorrow."

"You remember what day?" Norma asked.

"It's kind of hard to forget."

"Do you think dad is still looking for us?" Norman asked.

"I doubt it, probably already moved on to a whole new family."

"Why would he get a new family? He already has one."

"We left him Norman, he's not going to wait forever to move on."

Norma faced away from them, packing up some breakfast into a tupperware container then turned around and set it on the table next to them. "Hurry and eat your breakfast, I want you to run this down to Maggie before your bus gets here." She said then went over and started cleaning up her messes.

After Norma got the boys off to school and the kitchen cleaned up she went down to the motel and got to work, she worked the front desk awhile while Maggie worked in the office then at noon she got started on cleaning the rooms. It was taking her longer than most days to get them done today, her mind kept going back to what Dylan had said at breakfast about them leaving a month ago. When she finally got to her last room she went right inside knowing there were no guests staying in that one, she pulled her cart in and stopped suddenly when she heard a noise come from the bathroom.

"Someone in here?" Norma asked, looking toward the slightly opened bathroom door. She noticed a figure walk past the crack in the door frame and her heart started to race until Alex walked out, fully clothed yet the top of his shirt was wet and he was towel drying his hair. "Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry." He said, still drying his hair.

"I didn't know anyone was in here, are you staying at the motel now?"

"No, fixing the tub."

"Let me guess, it wasn't spraying correctly?" She asked and he nodded. He pulled the towel down from his head and walked right in front of her, before she could ask what the hell he was doing he reached his arm around her and tossed the towel into the bin on her cart.

"Hope you brought extra towels, the floor in there is soaking wet."

"You're not a guest, I don't have to clean up your messes." Norma said, grabbing a stack of towels off the cart and holding them out to him. "Better do it quick, if you're still in there by the time I'm done out here I'm making you clean the toilet too."

"How is that fair?"

"Did you use that toilet since you've been here?" Norma asked and he grabbed the towels out of her hands, turning and going into the bathroom. She smiled then got to work, starting with dusting. By the time Alex was done she was making the bed, he stopped in the doorway of the bathroom and leaned against the frame, watching her as she got frustrated every time she pulled a corner and the other one came off.

"Maggie should have looked into your ability to make a bed before she hired you." Alex joked then she looked back at him while he smirked at her.

"I'm normally good, I'm just a little out of it today."

Alex nodded and walked toward the bed, grabbing one corner so she could get it on without a problem. "Something wrong?"

"It's stupid, this morning during breakfast Dylan brought up how tomorrow will be one month since we left Sam." Norma said then she flattened the wrinkles on the bed while Alex stared at her, waiting to see if she'd explain why it was upsetting her. "Norman asked if we think he is still looking for us, and Dylan thinks he would have moved on already. Now I can't stop wondering what he is doing now that we aren't there, if he even still cares that we are gone."

"Do you miss him?" Alex asked bluntly.

"That is a crazy question." Norma said while tossing a couple pillows back onto the bed.

"He's your husband, it wouldn't be crazy to miss him."

"He's not my husband anymore, really he hasn't been in years. Everyday I spent with him was a day I lived in fear, it's so hard to live a proper life when you're afraid all the time. And don't get me wrong, life isn't a breeze now either. I still worry everyday, about the having to hide, about making my sons lie about who they really are, about the possibility of getting you in trouble for dragging you into all this. But still with everything I have to deal with I can't help feeling a sense of hope, that maybe this time things will work out, and for the first time in my life I feel free. So I shouldn't care this much about what he is doing, we finally got away and the life we created here is so much better than I could have imagined."

"Still, no matter how terrible your marriage was with Sam you were together a long time. Maybe you're not missing him but you did uproot your entire life when you came here. You're living somewhere new, you don't know the people here as well and you are without this person who you spent a good portion of your life with. The fact that you haven't thought about it till now is pretty crazy, most people would have been stressing it the next day."

"How am I supposed to stop thinking about it now?"

"You gotta make yourself decide, do you want to go back to him?"

"No."

"Do you ever think you will?"

"Never."

"Are you glad you left?"

"Of course, it was the best decision I ever made for my sons."

"Then what else is there to think about?"

Norma smiled as she finished up making the bed. "They teach you this stuff at the police academy?"

"Why would they teach me that?"

"I don't know, to talk someone out of jumping off a building."

"You are thinking about jumping off a building?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, they didn't teach me that. I learned over the years that you have to find a way to make the things you do right in your head, or you're gonna spend a lot of time and stress on the what if's."

"But it probably doesn't work some of the time."

"Most of the time actually, but at least a few of the times you can make things easier."

"Well I'm going to get started on the bathroom or searching for a new job will be another thing to stress about."

"I doubt you have to worry about that with Maggie."

"Just because we are friends doesn't mean she can't fire me."

"I didn't mean because you were friends, she would never risk you not making her home cooked meals every night."

Norma smiled, shaking her head at him. "Well that's good I'm not making anything tonight, let her see what it will be like if she does."

"You not making dinner, is the world coming to an end?"

"I told her me and the boys are ordering out tonight to celebrate their first week at school, but really it's Dylan's birthday today and I always get him pizza from his favorite place to celebrate. Although I'm really not sure where I'm supposed to get it from this year."

"Giovanni's, best pizza you will ever find."

"Dylan will be the judge of that, he's very picky about his pizza."

"Not that he will care but tell him I said happy birthday."

"I will let him know, and expect a grunt in return." Alex nodded then turned around and walked out the door, Norma rolled her cart to the bathroom so she could get finished in time to start getting Dylan's birthday stuff ready.

Norman's bus showed up not too long before Dylan's giving him a bit of time to help Norma finish setting up then she asked him to watch out the window for his bus.

"He's here!" Norman yelled, shutting the curtain and running over to his hiding spot behind the bed. Norma went over and shut off the light in there room then hid with Norman. They waited a minute then they heard the door open, the light from inside coming in only enough for him to see his way inside then once the door shut there was a short silence.

"Norma? Norman?" Dylan said then they heard his hand hit the wall, searching for the light switch. When it finally clicked on they both hopped up from behind the bed.

"Happy Birthday!" They both said, not as loudly as they normally would, they were pretty thin walls after all.

Dylan looked around the room, there were happy birthday banners, streamers, balloons and the dresser was set with a tablecloth and on top of it was food, sodas, paper dining ware and a pile of gifts. Even when they were living in their own house birthdays were never this big, he'd get a few gifts and a cake then usually end up in a fight with Sam by the end of the night about making too much noise while playing with his new stuff. "You did all this?" He asked, surprised.

"All for you." Norma said with a smile, she walked over and locked the door behind him, not wanting anyone coming in and seeing everything then she took his backpack off his shoulder for him and set it aside. "And as the birthday boy you get to pick the first activity of the evening, although I would advise eating the pizza because it just got here and it's nice and warm how you love it."

"You got my favorite pizza?" Dylan asked as she held his shoulders, guiding him into the room.

"It's not the same kind but it looks amazing, you wanna try it?"

"Sure." Dylan said, still in shock. Norma went over and grabbed him a plate, putting a couple slices onto it and handing it to him then doing the same for Norman, he took a bite and Norma watched waiting to see if he approved.

"So, is it as good as your favorite?"

"It's even better." He said, taking another bite.

"Well sit, I'll get you a soda." Norma said and Dylan took a seat on his bed to continue eating. Once they were finished Dylan said he wanted to do presents next, Norma was surprised he was so eager to get to them since he never really cared much in the past. And even more surprised by how much he seemed to enjoy each one, she started with the simpler ones like his birthday card that was filled with twelve ones as they did every year, a few editions of the motorbike magazines he liked reading, a couple sets of clothes that matched his normal preference before getting to the model car then ending with the two games for his gameboy.

"I just saw someone playing this game on the bus yesterday, it looked awesome." Dylan said, looking at the Zelda game. "And I always wanted this one." He added, referring to the Mario Kart one.

"I'm glad you like them, I had no clue which ones to buy till I asked around." Norma said, smiling at how happy he sounded.

"They are perfect, can I play them now?"

"It's your birthday." Norma said then stood up. "Although first." She said as she headed toward the dresser, opening the drawer and grabbing something out. He heard the click of a lighter and he knew what she must be doing then she turned around with a cupcake in her hand, a single candle lite on the top. "It's not a birthday without cake, although the only way I could make it in Maggie's kitchen without it looking strange was to do it in cupcake form." She said and walked over to him, her and Norman both singing happy birthday to him quietly till she reached him and held the cupcake down to him. "Make a wish."

Dylan closed his eyes a moment, moving his lips as he silently said his wish then he leaned in and blew the flame out, seconds later the flame came back and he blew at it again, no amount putting it out then her and Norman both laughed. "Norma! It's a trick candle, isn't it?"

"No, your lungs must be getting weaker with age."

"Very funny, will you get me a cup of water so I can put this out and eat the cupcake?"

"I got it." Norma said then took the candle off and handed him the cupcake, putting the tip into the little bit of soda she had in her cup before getting out a cupcake for Norman too then sitting down on her bed.

Dylan glanced around the room again at everything she had done then he set his cupcake on the nightstand and walked over to her. "Thanks mom." He said then leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before returning to his bed, immediately grabbing his cupcake and peeling off the wrapper as if nothing had just happened.

Norma couldn't have been happier than in this moment, everything she planned had finally worked out for once and she was able to give her son a great birthday despite everything that they had to deal with lately. She hoped that it would only get easier each year from now moving forward, without Sam around she had the chance to do things the way she had always wanted to.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: You all continue to amaze me with your feedback, it really means a lot to me that this fic is not only read been enjoyed so deeply, so thank you! I'm pretty excited about this chapter because I've been waiting months to share it, this and some of the following chapters has the ideas I had came up with when I originally started putting this story together and it's what I built the whole thing off of. That being said please let me know what you think and enjoy!

It had been almost a month and a half since the family had gotten to town and they had their daily routine down better than they had ever had it in Arizona. In the mornings Norma would wake up first and get herself ready, letting the boys sleep in till they had to start getting ready for school. She would bring them up to the house and make them a nice breakfast then send them off to school before getting to work, always starting at the front desk and doing her housekeeping at noon. When the boys got home from school she'd check in with them and get them a snack to hold them over till dinner then go back to work. Some days she'd get done early and have time to shower before making dinner, others she wouldn't be able to get to cooking till seven o'clock. Today was one of those days since a bunch of guest came into town for a wedding and were staying at the motel, they weren't the people you'd normally see at a motel but they had explained that everywhere else near there was full. And high maintenance customers meant more work for Norma, it seemed every time they dried their hands they needed a fresh towel and most of them didn't understand how to work the older television sets in the rooms. When see did finally get done it was close to eight pm, the boys had been hanging out in the office helping when they could.

"Okay, if they need anything else from me can you just tell them I died." Norma said, throwing her apron into the back office. "They made me rewash their sink because there were too many water spots."

"The sinks here are fifty years old and they are worrying about the water spots?" Maggie said.

"I told them the same thing, they didn't find it very humorous."

"Don't worry about them, I'll handle anything they need the rest of the evening."

"Thank you."

"We need to run to the store, I'm supposed to get a poster board and colored contact paper for a school project tomorrow." Dylan said while shoving his gameboy into his pocket.

"They told you this last minute?" Norma asked.

"Well they told us last week but I forgot until they reminded us today."

"Dylan, I don't have time to run you to the store before it shuts. I haven't even got started on dinner yet and I'm already exhausted from work. You are three weeks in and already you are slacking, you need to take these things more seriously."

"I didn't forget on purpose, they told us once while we were on our way out of class."

"I'm sorry, I'm just tired and worn out." Norma said, feeling bad for snapping at him.

"I could take him, I need to get a couple things in town anyways." Maggie suggested.

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all, I'll take him quick and get him back in time for dinner."

"And what about the guests?"

"I think they will live twenty minutes without fresh towels."

"I'm not sure about that, but thank you." Norma said then grabbed a post it note and signed out ' _Norma Parker'_ then she turned to Dylan. "Go into our room and on the nightstand in my purse there is a blue credit card, take it with you to pay then sign as closely as you can to this." She said and handed him the paper.

"Alright." Dylan said then him and Maggie left the office. He walked into their room and went into Norma's purse, digging through it to look for the card. "Geez, you track one drop of mud into the house and she freaks out, yet her purse looks like the inside of a tornado." He said to himself while searching, eventually finding the card in the bottom of the bag and sticking it into his pocket.

Four days later all the picky guests had finally left the motel and she got all their rooms cleaned up in record time, giving Norma back the free time that she so desperately needed. She hadn't been able to get up to the house to do laundry yet and their clothes were piling up in the hampers, she gathered them up and left a note on the office to ring the bell in case anyone showed up since Maggie had errands to run and wouldn't be back till later. When she got to the house she went to the washroom and started her routine pocket check, pulling out some change, a few notes she was guessing Dylan had gotten passed to him in class that talked about how annoying the teacher was, some hard candies from Norman's pockets then she grabbed a pair of Dylan's jeans and pulled out a credit card. She looked it over knowing it was hers and was about to put it into her pocket when she stopped, looking at it again. It was her card, she had used it many times before but the name on it is what stood out most, ' _Norma Bates'._ It wasn't either of the cards Alex had brought over on one of their first few days there but the card she had before, the one she shared with Sam. She immediately grabbed into her blouse pocket and pulled out her cell phone, she scrolled through her contacts and found the one that read ' _Dylan's School'_ then hit call. A few seconds later there was a voice on the other end.

"Hello, White Pine Bay Middle School." A woman said cheerfully through the phone.

"This is Norma Parker, is there anyway you could get my son Dylan and put him on the phone? I need to talk to him a moment, it's urgent."

"Of course, just give me a minute and I'll have someone track him down." She said then the line went quiet for a couple of minutes before she heard some shuffling around.

"Hello?" Dylan said, picking up the phone. "Mom, is something wrong?"

"I just need to know if you used the credit card that was in your jeans pocket or if you put back the one you used."

"I used one at the store the other day when I went with Maggie, I forgot to put it back. So yeah, it's the one in my pocket."

Norma took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a great amount of fear. "Let them know I'm picking you up, I should be there in about thirty minutes. And stay with them the whole time, don't leave that building unless it's with me, okay?"

"Why? What's going on?" Dylan asked, his tone sounding frightened. She wished to had the time to comfort him right now but she needed to hurry.

"I'll explain everything later, just be ready when I get there, I'll see you soon." Norma said then hung up, calling Norman's school quick and telling him the same thing so he wouldn't end up getting onto the bus. When she was done she went back down to their motel room and within twenty minutes she had everything they needed packed up into their suitcases. She rushed outside with a few of her bags, opening the trunk and tossing them inside. While she was back in her room she heard a car pulling into the driveway and stopped what she was doing, she leaned down and crouched toward her window, moving the curtain as little as possible to look outside. She recognized the SUV that pulled up right away then she heard the sound of the car door opening and feet hitting the gravel.

"Norma?" Alex yelled. Knowing it was just him now she grabbed the rest of the bags and carried them out to her car.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked, like there was nothing wrong.

"I was driving by and saw you out here, why are you packing your car up?"

"I got a job offer in Portland, they want me to start tomorrow." She said, shoving the bags into her trunk then Alex walked over and stood next to her.

"A job offer for what?"

"Assistant manager at a hotel they have there." Norma said and brushed some hair away from her face, she went back to rearranging the bags.

Alex leaned forward a bit trying to get her eye contact but she continued to avoid his gaze. "Which hotel?"

Norma paused a moment to think. "Country Inn."

"I thought that one went out of business."

"I meant Holiday Inn."

"Didn't that one burn down?"

"I don't remember the exact name, it's something Inn."

"Stop lying to me."

"I'm not-"

"No, stop. I'm not playing this game with you again, tell me what is really going on."

Norma froze in place a moment then turned to Alex, her face covered in worry. "Dylan went to the store with Maggie the other day, I told him to take my credit card, only he didn't take the right one, he took the one I had with Sam."

"I can call and get the payment cancelled, how long ago did he use it?" He asked and Norma squeezed the bridge of her nose with her fingers, trying to think back to the exact day.

"Four days ago."

"When did you usually get the bill? Maybe he hasn't seen it yet."

"I used the card in a different state, had Dylan sign a different name. The bill coming isn't the problem, they would have already let him know about it."

"He's not going to run you out of another town, you aren't giving up more of your life for some scumbag who can't keep his hands to himself."

"He knows I'm here now Alex, he isn't the type of guy to let things go. He will come here and he will find us, and this time will be so much worse than the others, he won't let me walk away from him again." Norma said while Alex stared at her the whole time, a tortured look on his face. When she was finished talking he looked at her a moment longer then turned and grabbed some of her bags out of the trunk. "What are you doing?" She said then watched as he opened his own trunk and threw them inside.

"You and the boys are going to stay with me, I have a good security system and I'll get someone to patrol the area every half an hour when I'm not home. If he decides to show his face in this town every cop will know about it and he will be behind bars before he can get anywhere near you or your sons."

"Alex, I can't let you do this. Do you have any idea what it's like to have two kids in your house? They'll drive you crazy and we'll just get in your way."

"I think I can handle it." He said while he fetched the last of the bags and put them in his trunk.

"Why are you doing this for me?" She asked and Alex stopped, staring over at her. "No one has ever tried to help me."

"I'm a cop, my job is to protect the people in this town and you are one of them now."

"Thank you." Norma stuttered out, nearly on the verge of tears.

"Let's go pick up the boys, I'll let their teachers know they won't be coming in for a few days and to get them any of the school work they are gonna need." Alex said then she followed him into his car. Norma glanced over at him while he drove, he had his work uniform on still.

"Were you on the way home from work?" Norma asked.

"No, I don't get off till three, I was out patrolling when I saw you."

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for doing this while you're supposed to be working?"

"Oliver will understand."

"Quite the understanding boss you got there."

"We've known each other since we were kids, he's one of the few people I knew who grew up here and remained a good person."

Norma nodded and they sat quietly a minute. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm sure."

"Do you even have room at your place?"

"We'll figure something out."

"It would be a lot easier for you if you just let us leave, chaos always seems to follow me around."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle chaos."

The two of them went over to Norman's school first since it was already letting out, Alex spoke with the principal and they were going to have everything he would need for the rest of the school week ready for him to pick up tomorrow morning. They went over to Dylan's school right after and did the same, telling both the boys quietly what was going on while Alex talked to Dylan's principal. His place wasn't a long drive from the school, Norma was actually surprised when he had drove up to a house and not an apartment complex, not picturing Alex as a guy who owned his own home. The four of them were able to grab every bag out of the back and carry them inside, setting them in the foyer then Alex turned around and locked the door behind them. Norma looked around while he started opening curtains to let the sunlight in, it was actually a very nice place.

"This is the living room." Alex said, pointing out each room to them. "Over there is the den which is my office then the door out of it is to the screen porch." He walked to the other side of the living room near the stairs and pointed again. "Kitchen, dining room then through this hallway is the downstairs bathroom on the left. I have two rooms upstairs but one is sort of storage so if you want while you are here you and the boys can have my room and I'll sleep down here."

"No." Norma said. "No Alex, we are not taking your room. You have enough furniture down here, we will be fine sleeping on them."

"I call the big couch." Dylan said quickly.

"I want the big couch." Norman said.

"You're short, you'll be fine on the small one."

"It has a pull out bed, you both can sleep on it." Alex pointed out.

"I don't want to sleep next to Norman."

"I want mother to sleep next to me." Norman said.

"You and your mom can take the couch and Dylan, I have an air mattress you could use if you're too long for the loveseat." Alex suggested.

"I don't need special sleeping arrangements, the small couch is fine." Dylan said.

"You can put all your bags in the closet under the stairs, there should be enough room and I'll move the couches into the den so you can pull the divider for privacy." Alex said then Norma and the boys grabbed all the bags, she mouthed 'thank you' as they passed him for already putting up with them. They put everything into the hall closet while Alex pulled some stuff out of the office and moved the big couch into it, while he was working on pulling the bed out Dylan walked into the room. "Where is your mom and brother?"

"Norma is raiding your kitchen, she's trying to figure out what she can make with baking soda and raw hamburger."

"You can tell her there is canned food in the pantry she might approve of."

"Trust me, she'll find it." Dylan said and Alex chuckled lightly, going back to what he was doing. "Why are you doing this?"

"I don't think they will both fit on the couch if I don't pull it out, I haven't used this thing in years though so I'm not sure how I'm supposed to open it."

"Not the couch, why are you letting us stay here?"

"Did your mom tell you what's going on?"

"She said that Sam might be coming to find us, that if he does bad things will happen."

"That's why I'm letting you stay here." Alex replied as he finally figured out a way to pull the mattress out.

"He's not coming after you, why are you getting involved?"

"So those bad things don't happen to any of you."

"You mean so they don't happen to Norma." Dylan stated and Alex glanced back at him.

"No, to all of you."

"I understand how it works, you make her think you care about us to get to her, after you have what you want you wouldn't give me or Norman a second thought."

Alex stopped setting up the bed and stood up straight, turning to face Dylan. "Is that what you think I am doing?"

"Norma is naive and she believes people are good despite what they have done to her, Sam did the same thing."

"Believe me when I say this, I am nothing like Sam and I never will be. I brought you here to protect you from him, I don't want any of you to be hurt by that man again." Alex explained in a very serious tone. "I became a cop so I could help the people who needed it and put the people who harmed them behind bars."

"I overheard some of the kids at school talking about you, they said you are a dirty cop."

"What all did they say about me?" Alex asked, figuring it had something to do with him snooping through the Jacobson's house.

"They said back in the eighties you started a drug trade in this town, that you covered it all up and made a profit from protecting the people in this town who made the drugs and sold them."

Alex nodded. "Did they call me Alex or Romero?"

"Romero."

"Dylan, how old do you think I was in the eighties?"

"I don't know, how old?"

"Ten, and by the end of the eighties I wasn't even in town, I was in the marines."

"They made it all up?" Dylan asked, feeling a little stupid for believing them.

"The Romero they were referring to is my father, he was sheriff of this town up until a few weeks before you moved here, he's in prison now."

Dylan paused, thinking about what he said a moment. "But you're still a cop, why is the town okay with that?"

"Because the new sheriff knows me and he knows I'm not like my father."

"How does he know that? I think it would be pretty hard to trust a man who has a dad like that."

"Because I'm the one that put him in prison."

"You sent your own dad to jail?" Dylan asked, shocked.

"I always suspected that he was working some other angle at work but he's a very sneaky person so it was hard to find evidence, after a few years I finally got all the proof I needed and I gave it to an officer I could trust."

"How did you do it?"

"I got into his safe and found the documents he had been keeping-"

"No." Dylan said, cutting him off. "I mean how did you do it without feeling some sort of family obligation? I don't even remember my dad but if he was around I don't know if I'd be able to do that, you knew your father and you worked with him."

"Growing up with him was never easy, he wasn't the man people saw him as at work. He was temperamental and he took his frustrations out on me and my mom, she never did get over that."

"Are your parents divorced?"

"No, they were married till the day she died."

Dylan paused. "How did she die?"

"I probably have said too much already, your mom's not gonna be happy that I told you about drug trades."

"You didn't tell me about the drug trades, I brought them up." Dylan paused again, waiting for him to answer and when he didn't he spoke again. "Did he kill her?"

Alex exhaled, seeing that he wasn't going to give up. "In a way, she committed suicide."

Dylan scrunched up his face, as if he had felt the pain himself. "How old were you?"

"Twenty-three. I had been stationed at a camp in California during my enlistment in the marines and after it ended I moved in with my wife at the time, we got divorced a few months later and I came back to town. I didn't know how bad she had gotten, I talked to her on the phone a few times a month but she hid it from me well. When I saw what kind of condition she was in I told my dad we needed to commit her to the mental hospital again but he wouldn't allow it and they wouldn't let me do it without his say, a few weeks later she killed herself."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. I ah- I didn't mean to accuse you of being a bad person, I've just gotten used to people turning out that way." Dylan told him sympathetically.

"I understand how you feel, you see so many terrible people that you start to expect everyone to be that way."

"After everything you went through didn't it seem like it would be easier to be like them, they got a lot out of it."

"For awhile I did, but then I felt guilty for even considering it. What good is anything in life when you can't even look at your reflection in the mirror without feeling disgusted in yourself?

"How could anyone else do it then?"

"Everyone's different, some people can handle the guilt."

"Does that make them stronger?"

Alex shook his head. "No, it makes them weaker. Those people only care about their well being and they don't think about anyone else, a strong person will protect the people they care about no matter what."

"Do you think I'll be a strong person when I'm older?" Dylan asked and Alex smiled slightly.

"You just came out here and called me out, made me tell you what kind of person I was so you could protect your mother. You're already a strong person Dylan."

Dylan held back the smile he felt forming and looked away, his eyes landing on the tiny loveseat still sitting in the other room. "I don't think that couch is going to be long enough, could I still use the air mattress."

"I'll go grab it and we can pump it up." Alex said then ran upstairs quick and came back with the bed, the pump, and a couple sets of sheets. He set up the bed on a good spot on the floor and showed Dylan how to pump it up with his foot then went over and made the couch bed up with a sheet. "Did she bring all your pillows and blankets?"

"They are in the blue duffel bag in the closet, you can grab them if you want." Dylan said and Alex nodded, going down his hallway and into the closet. He dug around and found the blue duffel bag and opened it up to make sure it was the bedding.

"Are you snooping?" Norma asked as she walked up behind him and he looked back at her.

"I'm getting your bedding, Dylan told me which bag it was in."

"You need a pillow to hold over his face?"

"We're making the beds, he's pumping up the air mattress now."

"He is?" Norma asked, surprised.

"Guess he changed his mind about it."

"He's stubborn, he doesn't change his mind about anything."

"Wonder where he gets that from." Alex joked as he zipped back up the bag.

"Is he still giving you a hard time?"

"No, he's been great."

"Now you're just making stuff up."

"I'm not, we talked a bit and he seems to be okay with me now, at least for the time being."

"What did you two talk about?"

"Guy stuff."

"He's twelve years old, he doesn't do guy talk yet."

"Really, because he was telling me about how his girlfriend has been nagging him lately about watching the game too much."

"Alex-"

"He also said he needs a new razor, the one he has is dull and his beard is getting too long." Alex said with a smirk as he took the bag with him and left the hallway. Norma smiled back at him and shook her head before going into the kitchen again. When Alex got back to the den Dylan was almost done with the bed, giving him time to finish making the couch bed then he set up Dylan's afterward. With the den all set up as a bedroom they went out to join Norma and Norman in the kitchen.

"I found enough unexpired food to make a fairly decent spaghetti pasta if that works for you." Norma told Alex.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to cook, we could've ordered in."

"That stuff is never as good as homemade food, and I like cooking."

"If you insist."

"I do." Norma said then looked around the kitchen. "You do have cooking pans, right?"

"I keep them in the stove, they're clean but you'll probably want to give them a rinse."

"From all the dust I presume." Norma said after she took a pan out, running her finger onto the side of it."

"It hasn't been that long since I used them."

"Do they even work on electric stoves or do I have to get the wood burning one out?" Norma joked with a smirk, it immediately dropped when there was a knock at the front door. Norma and the boys both looking worried.

"Relax, people do come to my door sometimes." Alex said, calming them down. "I'll be right back." He said and walked over to the front door. Once the door was opened Norma peeked around the corner to see who was outside, she couldn't see her well because Alex kept moving around in front of her but she was a pretty black haired woman. "Did he eat all his food today?" She heard Alex ask the woman.

"Yes, he did, I think he's finally starting to get used to all the changes."

"Everything else go alright?"

"He did get in a bit of a fight with Ruby, he was trying to play with her but she was cranky so she smacked him, left a bit of a mark on his face."

"Ah buddy, let me see." Alex said and kneeled down to the ground, Norma tried to see better but between Alex and the door her view was blocked.

"I know it's a little earlier than I usually bring him back but I saw your car outside and he seemed like he could use some time with dad, I hope that's okay."

"Dad?" Norma whispered to herself, did Alex really have a kid he forgot to mention to her?

"Oh, that's alright, I'm back home for the evening." Alex said.

"Norma?" Dylan said and she jumped back into the kitchen. "What are you doing? I thought you were going to start dinner?"

"I am, I wanted to make sure whoever was at the door wasn't going to cause us any trouble." She said then walked over to the sink, rewashing the pan Alex had told her to rinse. A couple minutes later they heard the front door shut followed by a patter across the floor then Norman squealed excitedly making Norma whip around quickly, when she did she saw Norman running over to a German Shepherd dog. "Norman, stay away from it." She said and pulled him back before he reached it.

"Why?" He whined.

"You can't run up to a random animal, it could attack you."

"He won't attack you." Alex said, walking into the kitchen and patting the dog on the head.

"Is he yours?" Norman asked.

"Yeah."

"What's his name?"

"Chevy."

"Can I pet him?"

"Norma?" Alex said looking at her, asking for permission and she nodded. "Yeah, you can pet 'em." He said and Norman came over and pet him, getting onto the floor next to him and Dylan came over to see him too.

"Is he your police dog?" Dylan asked.

"No, he was one but I never worked with him and he's retired now."

"Why wasn't he here already, you got shared custody of him?" Norma asked.

"My neighbor and her husband keep him over at their house while I'm at work, they got pets and a big backyard so it's a lot better for him than staying here alone."

"Does he do any tricks?" Norman asked.

"He does all the common ones then he also knows commands."

"So I could make him attack people?" Dylan asked, a little too excitedly.

"No." Norma said. "You are not making the dog attack someone."

"I was just asking, I didn't plan on actually doing it."

"Ah ha." Norma said and went back to cooking.

Their dinner together turned out much different than the one they had on their first day meeting. No one felt uncomfortable, they knew each other much better and Dylan was actually having conversations with everyone at the table. Even with everything that was going on they all managed to have a nice evening and at the end of the night they settled in the living room to watch movies on the film channels, it took awhile to talk Alex into joining them and even longer for Dylan and Norman to agree on 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' as their movie. When it was over Norman was starting to fall asleep on the couch so Norma brought him into the other room and set him up on the bed, while she was doing that Dylan had flipped channels and found 'Jurassic Park' playing near the beginning of the film.

"That looks like your mom when she's upset." Alex whispered when a dinosaur roared on screen making Dylan laugh out loud just as Norma came back into the room, she smiled looking over at them actually getting along then took a seat again next to her son. Throughout the movie Norma found herself looking around Dylan toward Alex several different times, thinking about how great he has been to her and her sons. Alex must have felt her eyes on him and turned to look back at her, as soon as he did she faced away and stared at the television and he smirked before standing up. "I have some work to do before bed so I'm gonna head upstairs."

"Is the television going to be too loud up there, because we can turn it off." Norma said.

"No, it's fine, I can't hear it from my room." Alex said then walked over to the front door and set the alarm system. "Keep all the doors and windows shut till morning or the alarms will go off."

"We'll stay in, don't worry."

"Can we keep Chevy down here too?" Dylan asked. "Just for extra protection."

"Yeah, that's fine. Just don't let him sleep on the beds." Alex told them then they all said good night before he went upstairs.

Norma waited a minute to make sure Alex was all the way to his room when she spoke. "I heard you and Alex had a talk before dinner."

Dylan turned the television down a bit then looked at her. "Yeah, we talked a little."

"What about?"

"Nothing really."

"You have been giving him attitude the whole time we have known him and now you two are palling around, you must have talked about something to change that."

Dylan shrugged and looked down at the remote in his hand, playing with the buttons. "I'm not sure he wants you to know what he told me."

Norma's breath caught and she was suddenly filled with worry. "Did he say anything that made you uncomfortable?"

Dylan looked over at her, seeing how freaked out she was and spoke quickly. "He didn't say anything weird, he was telling me about some stuff he went through."

"Like what?"

"Just stuff, things that happened to him growing up and things about his family."

"Why was he telling you that kind of stuff?"

"I asked him, I wanted to know what kind of person he was."

"And what did you decide?"

"He's not the worst person in the world." He said and Norma smiled.

"That's a compliment coming from you." Norma said then Dylan smirked and went back to watching the movie. "Really, what did he say?"

"He'll tell you if he wants to, just watch the movie Norma." Dylan said and they went back to watching the movie. Once it was over they went into the den and got ready for bed, even though Norma was comfortable staying at Alex's house she still found herself having trouble sleeping knowing that Sam could easily find them now. Leaving and getting as far away from this town might have been the best thing she could have done, but when Alex told her to stay she couldn't find it in her to turn him down. Now only time could tell if they had made the right choice staying.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Was going to wait till this weekend to post this but I'm gonna be crazy busy in the coming week so now's the only time I really have to do it, plus people asked so kindly for an update that I figured I'd drop this one here already. A big thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing, I always love hearing what you have to say. Let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex woke up to a aroma he wasn't used to, most mornings the only scent in the room was coming from the Jack Daniels leftover on his breath or whatever odor Chevy had dragged into the house. This morning was different, he could smell fresh brewed coffee and breakfast foods. Even when he was younger and lived with his parents it wasn't often that an actual homemade breakfast was made, unless his mother was having a really good day which didn't happen much. He didn't have to be into work for another two hours so he had time to go downstairs to check on them, after going to the bathroom and freshening up a little bit. When he got down the stairs he glanced over at the den and noticed Dylan still asleep on the air mattress and Norman asleep on the couch bed with Chevy snuggled up to him where Norma had been sleeping before. He chuckled lightly and left them be, walking to the kitchen where Norma was standing facing the stove.

"Morning." Alex said and he watched as Norma visibly jumped.

"You scared me." Norma said, clutching her chest. "Don't sneak up on me like that."

"I didn't know walking into my kitchen constituted sneaking up on you."

"What are you doing up so early?"

"I smelt coffee." Alex said then walked over and filled up a cup full. "Why are you up already?"

"I couldn't sleep much, I woke up about an hour ago and got sick of lying in bed doing nothing."

Alex set his coffee on the island counter and sat down on the stool while Norma went back to cooking. "You worried about Sam showing up?"

"I can't help but to be, he knows where we are now."

"You think he would come here?"

"I don't know, I hope that by now he would have moved on, stopped caring and maybe coming and finding us wouldn't be worth his time then. But I also know how he was, he's extremely territorial. He would get upset if another man even looked at me and he threatened me many times saying that if I ever left him he would have to kill me."

"Had you ever tried to leave him?"

"When Norman started kindergarten I thought about it, since both the boys would be in school I could get a good job and support us. I wasn't going to leave him the same way I did this time, I brought up divorce to him hoping that he felt the marriage was as doomed as I did. He flipped out, started crying and telling me how much he loved me, said that he promised he would never hurt me again. I was so shocked, I did not expect him to respond that way at all. And like an idiot I believed him, thought to myself that things were finally going to be good again. We had the best relationship that we'd had in years after that, of course that was only for a couple weeks till the old Sam started to show again."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with any of that, but you don't have to worry about it anymore. If Sam shows up I'm not going to let him hurt any of you." Alex told her honestly. She didn't know how to respond so she remained quiet, putting some food onto a plate and placing it in front of Alex. "Do you want me to go wake Dylan and Norman? Let them know their breakfast is done."

"No, that's alright, I can keep it warm till they get up."

"I'm not sure Norman is going to wake up anytime soon, he looked pretty cozy snuggled up with Chevy."

"He's on the bed with Norman?"

"He was when I came down."

"Sorry, I didn't get the chance to let him know about keeping the dog on the floor."

"It's okay, I only told you that because once he does it he won't stop, it will be less fun when there are two of you trying to fit on that couch with him."

Norma smiled and grabbed her own coffee taking a few sips while she watched him start to eat. "I was actually a little surprised you have a dog, you don't act like a guy who would own one."

"I like dogs but it was never my plan to own something that craps all over my yard. Chevy was my dad's dog and no one else would take him."

"Did your father pass away?"

"Prison, been there almost two months now. He was using his title as a police officer to cover up his drug trade."

"Your dad was a cop too?"

"He was the sheriff here before Oliver, that is till we put him away."

"We?"

"Oliver and I, well mostly just me but I didn't want to be the one to out him so I gave all the evidence I gathered to Oliver."

"That must have been hard, turning your own father in."

"Not at all, he deserved it."

Norma smirked. "And I thought I hated my parents."

"He was never an easy man to get along with, at least for me he wasn't. He had everyone else fooled with his good guy act-" Alex stopped talking when he heard whispering in the other room.

"Pst get, get down." They heard Dylan saying to the dog.

"Should I tell him it's fine?" Alex asked.

"No." Norma said quickly. "Let him keep doing it, then maybe he won't try to sleep on it again."

They both looked out into the other room where Dylan was pulling Chevy by his collar off of the bed, when he got him onto the floor he noticed them watching and acted as if the dog had been in that place the whole time. "Morning." He said, walking past them into the hallway then going into the bathroom.

"He's very conspicuous." Alex pointed out and Norma chuckled, watching as Chevy hopped right back onto the bed with Norman.

"So why Chevy? Your dad a big car fan?"

"No, the name actually comes from the story of how he got him. Him and his partner Declan were on patrol together and this little girl ran up to their squad car. She told them there was an emergency, that her dog had just given birth and she wouldn't stop bleeding. Neither of the girls parents were home to help and she didn't know what to do, my dad of course in his charming manner told her they were cops not vets but Declan told him they needed to help. So they went into the girls house and got the mother and her pups then loaded them up in the back of their car and started driving to the animal hospital. On the way there the mom started to cry out and my father being the one who wasn't driving climbed back to check on her, turns out she was still in labor. She ended up giving birth to the last puppy of the litter right in the backseat of their Chevrolet Caprice, that was Chevy."

"Your father decided to keep him?"

"I got the feeling he really didn't want to but the parents of the little girl were so grateful that they got their dog to the hospital and stopped the bleeding they offered him the pup. Once he was old enough to leave the mother my father got him trained to be his police dog then about a year ago when he turned seven they retired him."

"And now he's your dog."

"I had hoped to find someone to take him but now I'm kind of glad I didn't. He's an easy roommate, he sleeps a lot." Alex said as Dylan and Norman both walked into the kitchen.

"Can I have something to wipe my face with?" Norman asked, running the back of his hand across his face. "Chevy kept licking me till I woke up."

"From the side of the bed, he was on the floor." Dylan stated while Norma grabbed a paper towel and wet it in the sink.

"Yeah, he wasn't on the bed." Norman said, lying terribly.

"If my perps were anything like them it would make my job a lot easier." Alex said to Norma then she kneeled down and wiped Norman's face for him.

"You found food to make breakfast?" Dylan asked, walking over to where the eggs and toast were.

"It wasn't easy, Alex has a weird spot to store his bread."

"It was in the cabinet, how is that strange?" Alex asked.

"It was inside of a black tubberware case, no way of seeing what it was, no indication that there might be something of substance inside. Would it kill you to put some kind of label on it?"

"I don't need a label, it's not like I'm going to forget where my own bread is."

"Okay, but why not leave it in the bag it comes in like a normal person would?"

"I don't use it much, it gets stale too fast in the bag."

"Well either way your kitchen isn't stocked properly, I'm gonna make a grocery list for the store." Norma said then handed Dylan and Norman there plates. "Both of you need to get ready after breakfast, you aren't staying here alone."

"Just give me the list, I'll pick up the stuff on my way home." Alex said.

"I'm fine with going, I like shopping."

"You aren't supposed to be leaving the house till we know you're all safe."

"So I'm on house arrest now?" Norma asked, a little annoyed with him for telling her what to do.

"I'm trying to protect you guys."

"By depriving us of sunlight?"

"You've been here less than twenty hours, I don't think you have a vitamin D deficiency yet."

"You won't know which stuff to get."

"I'll wing it."

"I want to come with then if you won't let us go on our own."

"You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

"What time do you get off work? I'll make sure we are ready to go."

Alex exhaled. "I get off at three today."

"Perfect, that gives me time to clean this place up."

Alex opened his mouth to speak then shut it, deciding there was no point in trying to talk her out of it. He wiped his face with a napkin and stood up. "I gotta get ready for work, thanks for the breakfast."

After Alex was ready for work he spoke with them once more before leaving, making sure they would stay inside the house till he got home and letting Norma know to call him if she needed to know where anything was or if there were any problems. During the time he was gone Norma cleaned the downstairs up, she was surprised that it hadn't been too messy. Sam had always left everything he used lying around and never picked up for himself leaving Norma to do it all, claiming that because he went to work he didn't have to clean. Yet a man that was a couple years younger than him and worked at least twice as many hours was able to do it all on his own. When she was done cleaning she made lunch with what little was left in Alex's house then played a few games with the boys to kill time and watched some of the ridiculous things they put on television during the day, although the boys didn't seem to mind it. Alex had stopped back in a couple different times to take Chevy outside since Dylan and Norman had asked if they could keep him there. He was able to get home a little after three, normally he would stay long after his shift were up but he knew they needed him there.

An hour had already passed since they got to the store and Alex was starting to get restless, he rubbed his eyes moaning to himself while Norma searched through the bin of fresh tomatoes, feeling each one.

"You've never been shopping with a woman, have you?" Dylan asked from beside him.

"It's been awhile, I forgot how long it takes." Alex said looking at Norma setting one she had fully examined into the bag and started looking for another. "She does realize they are all the same exact thing?"

"If only she picked her men as well as her groceries." Dylan joked and they both smirked.

"You guys know I can hear you?" Norma said, both their grins dropping when she turned around.

"How many more things you got on that list?" Alex asked.

"I've gotten about half of what's on it."

"Seriously?" Alex asked and she waved the list in front of him. "Is there anyway we can speed this up a little?"

"You are the one who insisted on coming with."

"If I would have known how long it was going to take I would have just had them block off the store and let you in here alone."

"Oh, can we do that?" Norman asked excitedly.

"He was joking." Dylan said.

"This would be faster without your complaining." Norma said.

"Would it?" Alex asked and she shot him a glare.

The four of them walked into one of the aisles and the boys stopped in front of the small toy selection the grocery store had, Dylan looked over the toys then pulled one off the shelf and turned to Norma. "Hey, can we get slingshots?"

"No." Norma said.

"To protect ourselves."

"I don't think a plastic toy is going to protect you."

"Please Norma?" Dylan asked and she exhaled.

"If you get them, you're not playing with it in Alex's house." Norma said then Dylan grabbed Norman one and handed it to him.

"We gotta pick out some bouncy balls to shoot from them." Dylan told Norman then they started looking through the small bin of them.

"I'm going to grab pasta noodles from the end of the aisle, do not move from this spot, I want to be able to see you at all times." Norma told them and walked down the aisle to continue shopping.

"You think we can talk her into letting us get cap guns too?" Dylan said to Norman.

"I wouldn't count on that." Alex said, leaning on the cart and glancing down the aisle at her.

"Alex." A woman's voice said from behind him and he looked back to see Chloe standing there with a basket in her arms.

"Hey." Alex said, standing up straighter. "I thought you weren't back from your vacation till tomorrow?"

"I decided to come back a day earlier, the only fun thing to do there was sit in the sun and I already got a good tan so what was the point of staying any longer." Chloe said with a smile.

"Are you coming into work tomorrow then?"

"You miss me that much already?" Chloe asked. Dylan watched them closely, looking back to see if Norma was almost done so she could stop this but she was still picking supplies.

"I just wanna know if I should be telling the temp not to come in." Alex said and Dylan did a silent chuckle at his response.

"Hey." Dylan whispered to Norman. "First one to hit Romero in the head with a ball gets to pick what show we watch tonight."

"Mother will get mad at us if we hit him."

"You have to live a little sometimes Norman, nothing bad will happen if Norma is mad at you for a few minutes."

Norman looked back at his mom a moment then back to Dylan. "Any show I want?"

Dylan smirked. "There's hope for you yet." He said and lifted his slingshot, placing one of the rubber balls in the holder. "On three. One, two, three." He said and they both shot them, one hitting Alex in the shoulder and another in the neck.

"What the-" Alex said and they quickly reloaded and did it again, this time hitting the arm he put up to block them.

"Dylan! Norman!" Norma yelled and they both froze, looking back at her walking toward them.

"It was Dylan's idea!" Norman said quickly, pointing a finger at his brother.

"Rat." Dylan said back.

"Alex, I'm so sorry." Norma said, finally getting over to them.

"You said we couldn't play with them at Alex's house, you didn't say anything about not playing with them in the store."

"That's true." Alex pointed out and Norma glared over at him.

"Don't help them, they just slingshot you."

"Their aim was pretty good though."

"We were going for your head." Norman said.

"Okay, maybe you need a little more practice." Alex said then Norma looked over and finally noticed Chloe standing next to him. "Oh, Norma, you remember Chloe."

"Of course, it's nice to see you again." Norma said kindly.

"You too, are these your boys you were talking about?" Chloe asked, looking at Dylan and Norman.

"Right now I wish I could say no, but yes, they are."

"Well they are very cute." Chloe said grinning over at both of them, only Norman returning the smile. "I gotta get back to my shopping but it was nice running into all of you." She said and looked at Alex. "I'll see you at work."

"See you there." Alex said then she walked off.

"She's a cop?" Dylan asked.

"No, she works the front desk at the station."

"I didn't think she looked tough enough to be a cop." Dylan said, looking down the aisle at her while she kept shopping, peeking back at them a few different times.

"Come on now, you both are coming with me while I finish picking the noodles."

"You still haven't picked them yet?" Alex asked.

"I was a little busy coming over here to save you." Norma said then looked at the boys. "What were you two thinking anyways?"

"The person who hit him in the head first got to pick what show we watch tonight." Norman said.

"You really think you are getting to watch any television tonight after that?"

"Probably not." They both said.

They all stayed together after that while they finished shopping, there was minimal complaining from the three boys as Norma took her time to pick the remaining things. The nearly two hours of shopping was definitely worth the trouble when they tasted the delicious turkey pot pie Norma cooked for supper, it being the first time Alex ever had a homemade one which Norma couldn't believe. When they were finished with dinner and all cleaned up the boys managed to talk Norma into going outside to practice shooting their slingshots, even getting Alex to agree on helping them.

"You have to put them closer, we're never going to be able to hit those." Dylan told Alex who was setting up a few empty soda cans on a table for them to shoot at.

"Trust me, once you get the hang of it you will be able to knock every last one down." Alex said then walked over beside them. "Who's going first?"

"Oh, me!" Norman said, stepping up to the line Alex had made with a small rope.

"Alright, start by giving it a few test tries, really get used to the feel of it."

Norman lifted up his slingshot and took a rock out of the bucket they had filled, he put it in place and shot it off sending it nowhere near the cans. "I missed."

"You're holding it too high." Alex said and he lowered it a lot. "Now that's too low, you're gonna end up ricocheting off the ground and back at yourself if you do it that way." He said then manually helped Norman move it to the right height, he tried shooting again getting it closer to the cans but still missing.

"Can I go shoot them into the water instead?" Norman asked, looking at the small pond next to them.

"Yeah, go ahead." Alex said and Norman grabbed a handful of rocks then walked over to the pond.

"I hope you have a washing machine because he's going to get muddy water all over himself." Norma said, while she sat on the bench and watched them.

"I'm surprised you haven't found it yet." Alex said, looking back at her.

"I didn't snoop through your whole house."

"I'll show you where it is when we go back inside." He said then turned back to Dylan. "You ready?"

"Yeah." Dylan said then got his slingshot ready and shot off one of the rocks, it didn't make it and neither did the next ten or so he tried despite the tips Alex was giving him. "I'm never going to get this, it's like this toy is rigged or something."

"It's not rigged, you're overthinking it."

"You try then, prove to me it isn't broken." Dylan said holding out the slingshot. Alex took it from him and loaded it, aiming for a couple seconds before shooting it off and knocking down the first can in the row. "Lucky shot." He said then Alex grabbed another rock and knocked over the second one. "Seriously, how are you doing that?"

"Here, take this and load it." Alex told him and Dylan did as he said. "Now close your eyes."

"What? How am I supposed to aim if I close my eyes?"

"Just do it." Alex said and Dylan closed his eyes. "Now take a deep breath, loosen up your arms and imagine yourself hitting the target."

Dylan took a deep breath and thought to himself a moment. "Okay."

"Now open your eyes, aim and shoot." Alex said then Dylan opened his eyes and shot at the target, knocking the third can down.

"I did it." Dylan said staring at where the can had been sitting, still in shock.

"Good job Dylan." Norma said.

"See, it's not rigged." Alex told Dylan. "Now do it again." He said and they kept going till he had knocked every last can down. Soon it started getting dark out and they all went inside, Norma getting Norman into a bath while she washed their clothes. They didn't end up seeing Alex much more that night since he had leftover work to do and excused himself upstairs, the three of them watched a couple of movies before bed and talked a while about how both the boys were enjoying staying at Alex's house. Norma hadn't thought things would be as easy as this when Alex told her they could stay with him, she could already tell he was going to be overprotective about the whole situation but in a way it was nice to have someone looking out for them for once. However what she didn't know was that Sam was on his way to White Pine Bay as they slept peacefully in the comfort of another man's home.


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: I'm not gonna lie, I added that last sentence from the previous chapter in before I posted it just to be evil. I don't leave my chapters on cliffhangers that often so it was fun building up some suspense. And to the reviewer who thinks they will bore me with their long reviews, never ever think that! I love reading what parts of the story you all enjoyed so if I ever do another story after this one I can shape it around what bodes well. Also I would love to update these sooner but getting me to proofread is like getting a child to eat their vegetables. I postpone it as long as possible, whine when it comes time to do it then end up with a sour face on the whole time I'm doing it. But once I'm not so busy I will try to get these out even closer together, but for now let me know what you think and enjoy!

All Alex could feel was extreme bliss, the kind of bliss you could only ever imagine. Soft skin, softer than anything he had felt before. The most beautiful sight, her underneath him, his hand running through her blonde locks. Quiet sweet sounds escaping her mouth with every movement, a small smile forming when he traced her face lightly with his fingers. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, traveling down to her neck leaving a wet trail against her skin.

"Alex." She whispered in the most heavenly way and he let his eyes close.

"Alex!" Norma said loudly, followed by a knock. "Alex, are you awake in there?"

Alex's eyes shot opened and he looked around his darkened room, the only light coming in from the edges of his curtains. He looked at the empty spot beside him on the bed then down his body where he was only partly covered by his blanket. "Norma?" Alex yelled as he sat up, pulling as much of his blanket over his lap as he could while still keeping himself covered. "Ah, don't come in." He said and the door opened, his eyes finding hers for a moment before searching for anything else in the room to look at. "What are you doing in here?"

"I knocked at the door, I thought you said I could come in." Norma said innocently.

"Well I didn't."

"What did you say then?"

"I said 'don't come in'."

"Oh, I missed the don't part."

"Clearly." Alex said finally looking at her, her eyes glancing over his bare chest. "Was there something you wanted?"

Norma looked up at his face when she noticed he was now watching her. "I'm doing laundry, I don't have enough for a full load."

"I have enough clean clothes, and also I do my own laundry."

"I need something to add, I gave Chevy a bath. He was stinking up the whole den and I washed the bedding but Norman forgot to give me his favorite blanket to add, he won't sleep without it tonight."

"Why can't you just wash the blanket by itself?" Alex asked, his head already spinning from so much talking first thing in the morning.

"That would be wasteful, using all that water and electricity for one thing, not to mention the laundry soap."

"I don't know what to tell you Norma, I don't have anything to wash."

"When's the last time you washed your bedding?"

"I don't know, a few weeks ago."

"Weeks? You are supposed to do them at least once a week."

"This isn't a motel, they can be washed anytime."

"Well I can do them now. Get up, I'll add them in."

"No." Alex said, holding tighter onto his blanket.

"Why not?"

"I- I'm not fully dressed."

"You have underwear on, don't you?"

"I have shorts on."

"What's the big deal then, you're worried about me seeing your calves?"

"Can you just-" Alex said then stopped to take a breath. "I do not need you to wash my stuff, I do not need you to do anything for me. I'm a grown man and I did just fine taking care of myself before you were here." He said in a tone much harsher than he had planned.

"Wow, five days." Norma said with a snort.

"What?" Alex asked, scrunching up his face.

"How long it took you to regret letting us stay here, honestly I'm surprised you made it this long."

"I'm not." Alex said loudly.

"Your tone says otherwise. All I'm trying to do is help you, you don't know how awful it is to be trapped here, unable to do what I want to do when I want to do it."

"If it is so awful staying with me then why are you still here?"

"I didn't say it was staying with you that was the problem, it's this situation I'm in where I have to hide, hoping that someone finds Sam before he finds my sons or me. And you know I didn't ask you to drag us to your house, I was fine with leaving, maybe it's still what is best." Norma said and went to leave the room.

"Norma, stop." Alex said and she froze by his doorway, her back still to him. "I'm not trying to be a dick, I'm half asleep and yesterday at work was hell. I don't regret letting any of you stay here, and I'm sorry for snapping at you." He said and waited for her to say something back but she remained silent, he saw her shoulders begin to shake and heard her start to cry. "Norma, Norma?" He said and stood up, no longer having to hide behind his blankets. He threw on his tee shirt quick then went over and placed his hand lightly on the small of her back making her turn around. "I'm sorry Norma, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's not that." Norma said with a sniffle.

"What is it then?"

"I'm so scared." Norma said, dropping her head onto his shoulder. He put both hands on the sides of her arms, rubbing them gently. "I'm scared every time I hear a noise outside, I'm scared every time I don't hear Dylan or Norman talking in a while, I'm just scared all the time and I thought I wouldn't have to worry about this again, I thought we were rid of him."

"I wish I could do something so you wouldn't have to feel this way but I'm not sure how. I can promise you that I won't let anything bad happen to you or your sons, I will not let him hurt any of you again."

"You can't promise that, you don't know him, you don't know what he is capable of."

"I can promise you that. He may think he is tough but he's not, and if I find him I'm going to prove it to him." Alex said and instead of saying anything back Norma wrapped her arms around him, holding onto him lightly. He returned the hug moving his hands to her upper back and they stayed frozen like that a minute, he knew after the dream he had about her he should distance himself from her soon before it got too awkward. "Would it make you feel better if I let you do my laundry?" He asked and he felt her laugh against his shoulder before she pulled apart from him.

"It really would." She said while wiping the tears on her face away.

"Where's your basket?" Alex asked, looking in the hall to see if she had set one down.

"I assumed you had a hamper."

"I don't."

"Where do you normally put your dirty clothes?"

"I toss them in the corner and wait till it's big enough to wash."

"And just when I was thinking you weren't like most men." Norma joked then went over to his bed and started taking the pillowcase off his pillow, he walked over and did the same with the other one.

"But you aren't using any of that flower scented detergent you have on my stuff, I don't want my bedding smelling like a damn meadow." Alex added as they piled up the rest of his stuff and carried it downstairs.

"Okay, but there is no way you are stopping me from using a bounce sheet." Norma said as they past the living room where both the boys were watching television.

"Morning." Alex said and they grunted back good mornings in response. "What's going on with them?" He asked when him and Norma reached the washroom.

"They are crabby because I woke them up to wash everything."

"I know the feeling." Alex said while loading the machine with his things.

"Why was it hell?" Norma asked, glancing over at him as she set the washer.

"What?"

"Before when you were yelling at me-"

"I was not-"

"Sorry, when you were snapping at me, your words. Before you said yesterday at work was hell, and when you came home you seemed a little frustrated too, did something happen?"

"The boy that went missing around the time you got here, Riley, his mom came into the station yesterday and broke down in front of me and Oliver. It had been fifty days since she has seen her son and who knows if she ever will again, she had never even spent fifty hours away from him before. Those things like that start to get too overwhelming to handle, when one of the only people you truly care about are there one day and not the next."

"She must feel so lost without him." Norma said, thinking of the pain she would feel had it happened to her.

"We talked to her for a few hours, trying to help her see there is still hope, she was losing the little bit she had left and in situations like this that's all that keeps you going."

"Do you think there is still hope?"

Alex shrugged. "That's what we have to keep believing."

"Have you found any leads?"

"One, a guy his father worked with. He's not a man to leave any loose ends though, and I have searched so many hours looking for anything he could have missed."

"How certain are you that it could be him?"

"I'm pretty sure he has something to do with it."

"Then why don't you get him to confess? It shouldn't be too hard for you to do, all you have to do is walk into a room and everyone in it is immediately intimidated."

"It doesn't work with him, the only ways I've thought about getting it out of him are not at all legal."

"When a missing kid is involved shouldn't you do what you have to no matter what?"

"I wish that were the case, but Oliver's keeping a close eye on me to make sure I don't do anything else illegal."

"Anything else?" Norma asked, arching an eyebrow up at him.

"I don't always do things by the book, sometimes bending the rules is necessary."

"I understand completely, I mean you are speaking to a woman who has had three different last names since you met me."

"Not to mention lying to a police officer, a likey record breaking amount of times."

"That too." Norma said with a smirk then they both remained silent a few moments, staring at each other. "I should get started on breakfast, the boys are already cranky enough."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Alex said then followed her to the kitchen. He helped her grab out everything she needed and set it on the counter. "Tonight how about I cook dinner for everyone?" He suggested.

"You? Cook?" Norma asked, trying to hold back a laugh. "Is that something you know how to do?"

"Believe it or not I have cooked before."

"And people were able to eat it? No one ended up in the emergency room?"

"There were a few close calls." Alex said and Norma started to look worried. "I'm kidding, I know how to cook. Besides I was just thinking of grilling some hamburgers, it's supposed to be really nice out today so we could eat outside. Give you and the boys a chance to get out of this house, get some fresh air."

"That actually sounds perfect right now, assuming we don't break a tooth on your burgers."

The rest of the morning went on as it had the days before, Alex would join them for breakfast before getting ready and heading off to work. When his work day ended he did a quick run to the grocery store to get everything he needed for the dinner he was making tonight, picking out ground beef, hot dogs, buns, a can of baked beans and a few corn on the cobs. Everyone was mildly surprised someone who had less than five items in his fridge when they got there managed to make such a tasty dinner.

"I gotta admit, I did not expect you to cook that good of a meal." Norma told Alex while they all sat at the table outside, just finishing up on dinner.

"I figured by how scared you looked before your first bite, and telling everyone to wait till you tried it first before they could start eating." Alex said and Norma smiled.

"Since we're outside can me and Norman play with our slingshots again?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, but put the dog inside this time, I don't want you hitting him with a rock again."

"It was an accident, how would I know he would chase after the thing."

"I'll bring him in, I gotta clean up anyways." Alex said and picked up the platters of food from the table. "Come on Chevy, inside." He told the dog and they went into the house. The boys got up and went over to where they had set up their soda can shooting range and Norma started to wipe off the tablecloth with a wet napkin.

"Mother!" Norman screamed.

"Mom!" Dylan yelled and before she could turn around they ran into her almost knocking her over.

"What, what is it?" Norma asked, placing a hand on both of them.

"Sam." Dylan said and Norma looked up at him walking toward them, a gun in his hand. Norma pulled the boys behind her and started to walk them backwards toward the sliding door.

Sam lifted his gun and pointed it at her, speed walking to get closer to her. "Nope, don't even think about it." He said and she stopped moving, keeping her sons blocked from him as much as she could. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you one day? That you could just move on with your life and whore yourself out to the first guy you could find? Probably figured because he's a cop he could protect you, but no one is going to keep me away from you." He said angrily, Norma was about to try and talk him down when Alex walked back outside. The moment he saw Sam he reached toward the gun in the back of his jeans and Sam pointed his gun at him. "Not so fast, Deputy. You reach any further for that gun and I'll put a bullet through you."

"Sam, I'll go back home with you, just leave them all alone and we'll go right now." Norma pleaded.

"Mother, no, don't leave us." Norman cried, tugging on her.

"Don't worry Norman, you and Dylan are coming too." Sam said then started walking toward Alex. "I just have to handle him first." He said and set the tip of his gun right onto Alex's chest.

"Leave him alone!" Norma yelled. "You only want us, just leave him alone."

"I can't have him following us."

"He won't, Alex tell him you will let us go." Norma said, staring over at him.

Alex looked over at Norma first, seeing the look of finally giving up on her face as if she were asking him to let them go. Then his gaze fell onto Dylan and Norman, two scared young children who had more baggage than anyone twice their age should have to handle. He swallowed deep then looked back at Sam, staring straight into his eyes. "Not a chance in hell." He said then Sam cocked his gun, pushing it further into his skin.

"Just imagine." Dylan whispered to himself. He closed his eyes while he reached into his pocket, grabbing out a rock and loading it into the slingshot he was still holding. When he opened his eyes he aimed quickly and sent a rock flying, hitting Sam right in the face.

"You little fucker." Sam said while grabbing at his face, Alex took the distraction as an opportunity to hit the gun out of Sam's hands sounding off one single shot before it dropped to the ground. Alex lunged forward and tackled Sam into the dirt, hitting him repeatedly in the face. Norma turned around to her sons checking and making sure the shot didn't hit either of them, they both told her they were fine and she pulled them into a hug. They turned around as Alex gave Sam one final punch knocking him out cold, he stood up and flipped Sam over onto his stomach while he grabbed the rope off the ground from their target practice and tied up his hands behind his back. When he knew he had it tight enough, well a little more than tight enough he turned around to face them.

"Are you all okay?" Alex asked, breathing heavily.

"Yeah, we're okay." Norma said then Alex nodded right before dropping to the ground. "Alex!" She yelled then the three of them ran over to him. Norma turned him off of his side and onto his back, she ran her hand across his shoulder and toward his face when she felt something wet. Lifting up her hand she noticed it coated in red blood, she quickly looked him over and saw the small hole in his dark shirt surrounded by the liquid.

"Why is he bleeding, did dad shoot him?" Norman asked frantically.

"Dylan, go call 9-1-1. And Norman, get a towel, I need to keep pressure on it." Norma told them and Norman ran into the house, she looked up at Dylan who was still kneeled down next to them, staring at Alex. "Dylan, now!" She yelled and he hopped up suddenly, running into the house. "Alex, Alex I need you to wake up." She said, rubbing his cheek.

"Here." Norman said, holding the towel out to her. She took it and placed it on his wound, putting a good amount of pressure on it.

"They're on their way." Dylan said, running back over to them.

"Come on, Alex." Norma said then he let out a moan and started to open his eyes, looking right at Norma.

"What happened?"

"You got shot." Norma said then Alex widened his eyes and tried to sit up. "Alex, try not to move."

"I need to save them, I can't let him hurt them again."

"Alex, no one is hurting anyone, you already saved us." Norma said and Alex scrunched up his face, trying to remember back to all the events that just happened. He leaned forward a bit and turned to look back at Sam lying on the ground a few feet from them.

"I need to bring him to the station."

"You were just shot, the only place you are going is a hospital. We already called and they are going to be here soon. "

Alex looked at his injury, pulling his collar down some to get a better view. "It's just a flesh wound."

"You passed out."

"I was dizzy from the blood loss and all the movement, I'm fine."

"I don't care what you say you are staying right there till the ambulance gets here." Norma said then they heard Sam grunt from beside them, finally coming to. Alex looked over at the gun still laying on the ground and bent forward to grab it with his good hand then stood up, Norma holding onto him and keeping pressure on his wound the whole time.

"Make one wrong move and I'll blow you away." Alex told Sam as he stared up at him angrily.

"I hope you know they aren't worth what they have put you through, especially her." Sam said, nodding toward Norma.

Alex glanced back at the boys. "Can you two go inside and let the police in when they get here?" He asked and they both nodded yes then walked into the house. Alex took a few quick steps forward leaving Norma's side and pointed the gun at Sam's head. "I think you and I both know that's not true. But don't worry, while you are rotting away in prison I'm gonna take good care of them."

Norma smiled to herself watching how jealous Sam looked, she knew Alex was only saying those things to piss him off but part of her knew that he would always be there to take care of them. "Alex, we have to keep the towel on that so you don't bleed out." She said then Alex turned and walked back to her, making sure Sam watched as he put his good arm around her and let her reapply the pressure to his wound.

"Yeah, they're back here." They heard Dylan telling an officer as they walked outside.

"Romero, you alright?" The officer asked.

"I've been shot, other than that I'm good." Alex told him sarcastically. "Bring mister Bates to the station, keep him in the cell till I can deal with him."

"Yes, sir." The officer said and walked over to Sam, replacing the rope with a set of handcuffs and standing him up.

"I guess someone is going to keep you away from me." Norma added as the officer pulled Sam along with him to the front yard. Seconds later paramedics entered the backyard to get Alex.

"I shouldn't be there too long, they will want to sew me up then I'll be out. You don't have to wait up if it gets too late." Alex told Norma.

"Are you crazy? We are going with you to the hospital." Norma said then turned to the paramedic. "Where are you taking him?"

"Saint Sebastian, do you know where that is?"

"I've drove past that before, I know where it is. We will meet you there." Norma said then they took Alex with them to the ambulance.

When Alex got out of view everything finally hit Norma and she started to cry, she had truly thought Sam was going to take them and nothing was going to stop him. Dylan and Norman both grabbed onto her creating one big hug, each of them starting to cry along with her. Today was not their last day, they were alive and well and they were all together, that's all that mattered now.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Woah, I cannot believe this story just hit a hundred reviews! You guys are fantastic and everything you write is so kind, thank you so much for all the compliments you have given! And I realize with the last chapter having the Sam portion of the storyline finished and me bringing up stories after this it might have seemed like we were coming closer to the end but do not fear, this story still has a long road ahead of it. I only bring up that I can use your feedback for the next story because this one is basically all written and the parts that aren't are outlined fully, this story actually comes to forty-five chapters total. This chapter is a bit shorter than they have been and really just the aftermath of the last chapter, I promise it will get more exciting again soon. Let me know what you think and enjoy!

In the moment Norma had forgotten her car was still parked at the motel, in the same place she and Alex had left it days before. She gave Maggie a call and told her about what happened to Alex, leaving out as much as she could from the story since she still wasn't sure how Alex was going to explain this. She stopped what she was doing and right away left to come pick them up, it was probably best anyways since Norma's hands hadn't stop shaking after the incident, she was in no condition to drive. They got to the hospital as soon as they could and Norma went straight to the front desk.

"I'm looking for Alex Romero's room." Norma said to the woman behind the counter.

"Are you family?" She asked

"No, we're friends."

"Sorry, if you aren't related I can't tell you his room number."

"Well can you at least tell me how he is?"

"I'm only allowed to disclose that information to family members."

"I was literally with him thirty minutes ago when he got shot, I'm the one who took care of him till the paramedics got there."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I don't know what to tell you."

"What to tell me-" Norma said, getting ready to go off on the woman when Dylan grabbed her arm.

"Come on Norma, let's just sit down and wait. I'm sure Alex will tell them to come let us know as soon as they can." Dylan said, calming her down. She took both her sons hands then they walked over to the waiting room and sat down with Maggie.

Inside Alex's exam room the doctor had already gotten back his x-rays and found that no vital organs or arteries were hit, the most damage being to the skin and muscle. He began sewing up the front wound first before moving onto the back, not long after there was a knock at the door.

"Are you expecting someone?" His doctor asked.

"Yeah." Alex replied.

"Come on in." He said then the door opened and Oliver walked inside.

"Not exactly who I was expecting, how did you know I was here?" Alex asked, looking over at him.

"You think it's surprising the sheriff found out about his deputy being shot?"

"When it's your day off and you were supposed to be at Washington Park hiking with Krista it is."

"She woke up sick so we postponed it, and good thing since you decided to get yourself shot. Were you worried you weren't getting enough attention? Because you could have just came to me, said Oliver, I could use a little more love."

Alex exhaled and glanced over at his doctor. "Can I get some stronger pain killers?" He asked and Oliver walked over at looked at his wound.

"How much longer are you going to be?" Oliver asked Alex's doctor.

"I'm just about done here then I'm going to have someone come in and get him bandaged up and put on a sling." He said and Oliver nodded, taking a seat on a chair in the corner of the room till he finished. "Alright, someone should be in here with you soon."

"Thank you." Alex said then he left the room, Oliver waited till the door shut then he went onto the rolly chair and sat down, scooting next to Alex.

"I know I told you not to get me involved but I'm going to need to know how well you did Norma's witness protection case."

"Why? Did Sam say something?"

"No, he was put in a cell just like you told Jefferson to do. But it isn't hard to see what is going on here, you have a handful of officers on the lookout for him the last few days then he shows up and you are involved in a shooting with him."

"He came into my yard with a gun, he shot me."

"But you can see why this will draw attention to you and to Norma's case, that's why I need to know how good of a job you did."

"I did it just like my father did. No loose ends, nothing sloppy. I added her to the witness list on a crime that took place in Arizona, the person in jail is far from sane so there is no way they would believe him if it came to having to ask if she were there at the time of the crime. I had Sam put as a suspect so it wouldn't look suspicious that he didn't get protection like they did."

"And you are sure you didn't leave anything they could catch you with?"

"Oliver, it doesn't matter anymore. They are going to come to you and make sure this all checks out, you'll have to tell them you didn't sign those forms."

"If I tell them that you lose your job and go to jail."

"This was the plan, remember? You have to pretend you were in the dark this whole time, that I did everything behind your back."

"I know that is what we talked about but if you did this as well as you said you did I don't have anything to worry about."

"No, I can't risk that. This was my idea so if I'm going down it's gonna be all on my own."

"I didn't stop you, in fact I helped you so this is not all on you. I'm going to tell them I approved the order and if anything happens after that we go down together."

"You didn't want to do this, I talked you into it."

"And I'm glad you did now, you saw what happened today. What you did may not have been protocol but think about how much good it did, you saved three people from that man. And I don't care what you say, I'm not going to let you take the fall for that." He said then there was a light knock at the door.

"Come in." Alex said and another doctor walked inside.

"I'm here to get you bandaged up." She said and walked over to him, looking over his freshly sown wounds.

"So where is Norma now?" Oliver asked.

"She was coming to the hospital, I don't know why she hasn't shown up yet." Alex said.

"They probably stuck her in the waiting room, I'll go see if I can find her." Oliver said, standing up. "Do you want me to bring her back here or just tell her how it's going?"

"You can send her back if you find her." Alex said and Oliver left the room.

Out in the waiting area Norma was still sitting with Maggie and the boys, getting more and more anxious by the second.

"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Norman asked and Norma wasn't sure what to say.

"He's tough, he's going to be fine." Dylan told him.

"Is dad going to jail now?"

"He shot a police officer, they aren't going to let him off with a warning."

"You're father shot Alex?" Maggie asked, looking at both of the boys.

"My dad, Dylan's dad left before I was born." Norman explained the same way he had heard the story before and Maggie looked at Norma.

"Why was his dad after Alex?"

"It's a really long story, we can tell you all about it later." Norma said then they sat quiet a few moments. She glanced over at the woman who was at the front desk, she didn't seem to be doing anything all that important as she sat tapping her pen gently on the counter. "Okay, I'm done waiting." She said, standing up and rushing over to the desk. "I want to see Alex Romero right now."

The woman set down her pen and looked up at Norma. "Ma'am, I already informed you that is not possible right now."

"I know what you said but I'm tired of waiting, if you won't tell me if he is okay or not I don't have any problem busting in every door here to find him."

"Ma'am-" She started then Norma cut in.

"I swear if you ma'am me one more time-"

"Norma." A voice from behind her said and she looked back to see Oliver walking toward her. "I figured they would have put you out here, I told Alex I would come find you."

"You've seen Alex?" Norma asked as the rest of them got up and walked over.

"Yeah, I was just in with him."

"How is he doing?"

"He's doing pretty good, minus the chunk of flesh missing from his shoulder."

"But he's gonna be okay?"

"He's going to be just fine, I can bring you back to his room if you'd like."

"Of course." Norma said, flashing a quick glare at the front desk lady before they all got ready to follow him.

"Ah, they only allow two people back there at once."

"Do you mind watching them?" Norma asked Maggie.

"Yeah, we'll go find the stash of popsicles they keep on this floor."

"Thank you." Norma said then she followed Oliver back to the exam rooms.

"How are you doing with all of this?" Oliver asked while they walked.

"It's all so-" She paused, thinking of the proper term. "It's surreal."

"I imagine. And your sons?"

"My oldest seems to be made of steel, he knows how to handle disaster. And my youngest is scared, but he always bounces right back."

"Here's his room." Oliver said, pointing toward it. Norma didn't waste time knocking and went straight inside.

Alex looked up at her while the doctor was still putting a bandage on the front side. "Hey." He said, sitting up a little straighter. "Where are the boys?"

"Maggie's here, she's watching them."

"Did you tell her-"

"Not everything."

"Good."

"Does it hurt bad?" Norma asked then winced at her own words. "Sorry, that's a terrible question, obviously it hurts."

Alex chuckled. "I really can't feel it much anymore, they gave me painkillers."

"Do they need to do any surgery?"

"No, like I said it's just a flesh wound. They sewed it up already and I'm gonna be good to go soon."

"Not completely good." The doctor said, cutting in. "There's going to be quite a bit of follow up, you'll have to do some physical therapy to regain all the strength back in your arm."

"I know that, I wasn't telling her because she worries too much."

The doctor looked back at Norma and smiled. "Sorry."

"I brought you a clean shirt, I figured you wouldn't want to put the bloody one back on." Norma said, pulling the folded tee from her purse.

"I'm done with the bandage, I can help him put it on." The doctor said and Norma handed her it. She stood up and very slowly helped Alex put it on. Afterwards she grabbed the sling off the counter and started hooking his arm into it.

"You are getting a sling?" Norma asked.

"It's for two weeks, while it heals."

"A minimum of two weeks, you will need an appointment with your doctor to determine exactly when." The doctor said then looked at Alex when he sighed. "Sorry again."

"And is there any possibility of complications because of this, like trouble using his arm?" Norma asked, now only talking to the doctor as if Alex wasn't in the room.

"Well surely we can't predict every problem possible, but by the looks of it he should have a full recovery in the next few months. You are going to have to make sure he changes that bandage twice a day, and clean the wound. I can already tell he's pretty stubborn so you gotta make sure he does it, and I'll give you all the paperwork on post care and his follow up appointments." She said and gathered up his papers, placing them into a folder before handing it to Norma. "You have kids?"

"Yeah." Norma said without wondering why she asked. "Two sons."

"You'll want to talk to them and make sure they know he can't be doing a ton of physical activities with them, if they are younger children they usually get upset when dad can't do everything they are used to doing for awhile."

"No, I'm not- we're not. We are friends, they're my sons." Norma said, a red tint covering her cheeks. Alex used his good hand to rub his forehead, blocking his face slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't usually put my foot in my mouth this many times in one day."

"No, that's alright, really."

"I'm going to let you guys go before I say anything else stupid, unless you have any more questions."

"We're good." Alex said.

"Okay, your doctors number is on your paperwork so if you have any questions or issues give him a call right away."

"Thank you." Alex said and she started to leave the room.

"Thank you." Norma said with a smile as she walked out the door.

"Just friends or not you make sure he listens." She whispered.

"I will." Norma said then she left the room.

"So, are you ready to go mister and missus Romero?" Oliver joked and Alex shot him a glare.

"Tell Krista when you do finally go on your hiking trip that she can leave you stranded there." Alex said, attempting to stand up then Norma hurried over to him to help.

"You have to wait for me to help you."

"I got shot in the arm, my legs still work just fine."

"You don't know how dizzy you are going to be when you try to walk, you're all drugged up."

"I got one shot of morphine when I got here, I'll be fine." Alex said and started to walk, losing his balance a little. Norma quickly reached out and put her arm around him, helping him steady himself.

"See this is why you always listen to your wife." Oliver said.

"Can you help me walk over to him?" Alex asked Norma. "And I don't have much strength right now so I'm gonna need an object of some sort to beat him with."

"We gotta get you home to rest, you can beat up your boss some other time."

"Yeah Alex, better hurry it up, your children are waiting for you." Oliver joked as they all started walking to the waiting room. Norma kept her arm tightly around Alex the whole time even though by the time they started walking he didn't seem to need any help. When they got to the waiting room Dylan and Norman both shot up from their chairs and rushed over to him, neither of them sure what to say when they reached him.

"He's okay." Norma said, knowing that was the main question on their minds.

"What's on your arm?" Norman asked.

"It's a sling, it keeps my arm in place so I don't injure myself more while the wound heals." Alex explained.

"Did it leave a hole in your arm?"

"There was a couple but the doctors fixed them."

"Can you leave now?" Dylan asked. "Or do they have to keep you here?"

"I can leave, they did everything already." Alex said and Maggie walked over to him. "Thanks for coming." He said and they shared a quick hug.

"Of course, when Norma called me I was beside myself. I'm just happy you are doing alright now."

"Do you all have a way home?" Oliver asked.

"Maggie drove us here, my car is still at the motel." Norma said.

"How did you all fit in her truck?" Alex asked. "There are only three seats."

"I really don't want to say to two police officers."

"It would have been fun given different circumstances." Dylan said.

"And if the road here wasn't so bumpy." Norman added.

Oliver let out a chuckle. "Well despite how fun it was how about I give you all a ride home? I got seven seats with seatbelts, all the works."

"Only if you agree not to talk the whole way." Alex said.

"So kind to the person offering you his help." Oliver said while they all started walking outside.

"Thank you for the ride." Norma said when they got near Maggie's car, giving her a hug. Oliver, Alex and the boys kept walking so they could get into the car already.

"No problem, you take care of him."

"Is it gonna be okay if I wait a couple more days to come back to work? I wanna make sure he recovers enough before I leave him alone."

"Yes, take as much time as you need, I can handle things awhile." Maggie said then they said their goodbyes and Norma walked over to Oliver's car where everyone was already inside.

"How did you get him into the car so quickly?" Norma asked once she was in the car.

"He did it all on his own." Oliver said.

"You didn't help him?"

"I offered, he wouldn't allow it."

"I know how to climb into a car, you are acting like I lost all my limbs." Alex said while they started driving.

"So am I dropping you off at the motel first?" Oliver asked, glancing back at Norma a second.

"No, all our stuff is still at Alex's house. Besides he needs someone to look after him till he heals."

"You don't have to look after me, I'm going back to work tomorrow."

"No you aren't." Oliver said.

"Why not?" Alex asked.

"Seriously? You just got shot, take a day or two off. If anything major happens I'll let you know and you can come in, otherwise you need to rest." Oliver told him. Knowing not to argue with him about it after everything he was going to do for him Alex remained silent. When they got back to the house Norma helped Alex out of the car, despite his bickering about being fine. She told the boys they could watch television while she brought Alex upstairs so he could lay down and they both told him to feel better then said goodnight.

"You need to go to the bathroom or anything first?" Norma asked while she guided him into his bedroom.

"No, straight to the bed is fine." Alex said then she moved his covers out of the way and helped him down onto the bed. "I guess it's good you washed my stuff this morning afterall."

"That's got to be a lesson in life, always keep your bedding clean in case you get shot point blank in the shoulder."

"They can start putting it on the labels." Alex joked while Norma covered him up.

"You're okay with sleeping in your clothes?"

"Right now I couldn't care less." Alex said, his eyes starting to shut. Norma smiled as he drifted right off to sleep.

"Thank you, Alex." Norma said, gently rubbing his hair. She stood up and headed for the door when he spoke.

"Goodnight Norma."

"Goodnight." She said and clicked off his light.


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Dropping this on here early since I'm out of town till next week and the wifi likes to decide when I'm allowed to use it and when I'm not, which happens to be the 'not' more often. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and I'm happy to know I got people wanting to stick around for more chapters. Let me know what you think and enjoy!

Norma planned on sleeping in today, after everything that happened yesterday with Sam showing up and Alex getting shot she was exhausted. For the first time in a long time she felt safe, Sam was behind bars and her family was free of him for good. Still she awoke early, and not because she was stressed out like all the other days but because she could hear the faint sound of the television in the other room. She sat up and looked around the room, a dim light coming from the window as the sun was beginning to rise allowed her to see everything clearly. Norman was curled up next to her, sleeping peacefully with his favorite blanket and stuffed owl shoved in his arms. She looked over at Dylan's bed and saw nothing but a ruffled up blanket and an empty spot where he normally slept. She reached over and grabbed her robe, putting it on before walking into the living room. Dylan sat up on the couch, his legs pressed up against his chest while he watched the program on the television screen.

"What are you doing up this early?" Norma asked, making him jump at the sound.

"I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep." Dylan said, setting his feet on the floor and sitting up. "What are you doing up?"

"Norman kicked me in his sleep." She lied, not wanting him to feel bad for waking her. "Are you alright?" Norma said, walking over to the couch and sitting next to him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I've never seen you awake before the sun came up."

"I'm getting older, they told us in school as you age you start to sleep less and less."

"That's true but you were in bed till noon last week, it doesn't change that quickly. Are you sure you don't want to try and sleep longer?"

"No, I'm wide awake already."

"How long have you been up?"

"Not that long, I came out here a few minutes ago."

"What about before you came out here?"

"I don't know, I didn't look at a clock Norma." Dylan said, annoyance in his tone.

"What went on yesterday, it's a scary thing to go through."

"This has nothing to do with that, I wasn't tired anymore so I got up, you don't have to make a big deal out of it."

"Okay." Norma said then sat there quietly with him a few minutes till she heard the toilet upstairs flush and she stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to go check on Alex, I'll be right back." Norma said and he nodded. She walked upstairs and stood outside his door, lightly knocking on it. "Alex, it's Norma."

"Come in." Alex said from inside and Norma stayed put. "I said you could come in."

Norma opened the door and stepped into his room. "I wanted to be sure this time."

"I'm awake this time."

"What is with all the early birds today?"

"What?"

"You and Dylan were both awake before me today."

"I slept the last nine hours, I haven't slept that long since I was a kid."

"Well they say you need less and less sleep as you get older." Norma said, copying Dylan's line. "You changed." She said, looking at his sweatpants.

"I barely remember doing it, it was at some point during the night."

"Did you change your bandage yet?"

"Not yet."

"Where's your supplies? I'll do it now."

"You really don't have to."

"Haven't you learned that arguing with me will get you nowhere?"

"I put everything on the bathroom counter." Alex said then Norma walked into his bathroom and gathered everything she needed. Alex reached up and unhooked the strap for his sling, taking it off and throwing it onto his bed then he used his good arm to start slowly pulling off his tee shirt. Norma stepped out of the bathroom while he was doing it and leaned against the frame to watch him, normally she would have complained about him doing it himself but she couldn't find the words. "You ready?" He asked, glancing back at her.

"Yeah." Norma said and walked towards him. "Here, sit down on the bed." She said and they both sat beside each other.

Alex turned at an angle for her to get at the bandage and watched as she slowly picked at the tape around the sides of his gauze, feeling a little self conscious under her gaze. "It looks better." He said, looking at the uncovered wound. Norma didn't say a word back to him, only stared at it with a sadness in her expression. He may have been willing to down play it but Norma couldn't help feeling guilty when she looked at where the bullet had ripped through him, knowing that he got it because of her. "Hey, it isn't the first time I've been shot, sure as hell won't be the last."

"Okay, tough guy." Norma said and lightly pressed the gauze against his skin making him wince. She pulled back a second to prepare him longer than went back to wiping it. Too busy looking at his wound she hadn't noticed him staring at her the whole time, he contemplated telling her that this was the first time anyone had ever taken care of him like this but he knew that might be too weird of a thing to bring up. When she was done cleaning it up she looked up and caught his gaze, he kept his eyes locked on her intensely till she quickly pulled her hand away and grabbed another sheet of gauze to cover the wound with. "So have you heard anything about Sam yet?"

"Oliver left me a message last night saying he was going to handle booking him, he's looking at attempted murder with a deadly weapon, three counts of attempted kidnapping again with a firearm, not to mention the gun he had was not registered. I wouldn't count on him ever having a day of freedom again."

"He can finally see how it feels." Norma said while she finished dressing the front. "Can you turn around?" She asked and he did so. "How does it work with me and the boys now, do we keep using fake identities?"

"I had made it look like the crime you were a witness to involved Sam, the other man who was apart of it was already back in prison for life and now that Sam is too you aren't technically in witness protection anymore. You can go back to using your real names."

"Does that mean I don't have to pay off the balances left on Norma Parker's credit cards?"

Alex chuckled. "No, that's not what it means." He said as Norma finished putting the bandage on his back side. She rested her hand on his back a little longer than she needed, tracing it lightly next to the tape and sent a chill running through his body. He stood up suddenly and walked over to his dresser, grabbing out a shirt and putting it on before Norma had a chance to offer her help. She picked up the sling off his bed and went over to him, helping him slide his arm into it and buckled the strap back on. "What's Dylan doing downstairs?"

"He's watching television, I'm sure he'd be happy if you joined him while I made breakfast." Norma said then the two of them headed downstairs, Norma went straight to the kitchen and Alex walked over and sat down next to Dylan on the couch.

"How are you feeling?" Dylan asked.

"Better today, it doesn't hurt as much." Alex said then Dylan nodded. "I wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"When you distracted Sam so I could get the gun away from him."

"It was nothing."

"It was not nothing, it's possible that that is what saved my life."

"It didn't stop you from getting shot."

"It stopped him from trying to kill me and take you guys away, that was a really brave thing for you to do." Alex told him then Dylan went back to watching television, avoiding the conversation going any further.

Three days had passed and everything started to go back to normal, they were still staying at Alex's house to help him with cleaning, cooking and anything else that he needed help with, well anything that Norma felt he needed help with. The both of them had gone back to work and the boys went back to school, it was the same as before but now they no longer had to pretend they were people they weren't.

Norma was working the front desk when her cell phone started to ring, she answered it quick assuming it was Alex checking in. "Hello?" She said through the phone.

"Hi, missus Bates?"

"Yes?"

"This is nurse Swanson at White Pine Bay Middle School, I have your son Dylan in here with me. His teacher sent him here because he had fallen asleep a couple times in class, he told me he doesn't feel sick but he looked pretty tired. I think it might be best if you picked him up and brought him home, he could use some rest."

"Ah, I'll have to let my boss know but I can be here as soon as possible to pick him up."

"Take your time, I got him setup on one of the cots now."

"Thank you, I'll be there soon." Norma said then hung up. She let Maggie know quick what was going on and she told her it was a slow day anyways and she could take the rest of the day off. Norma got to the school and went straight to the nurses office, missus Swanson told her she could go right back and get him. She expected him to be asleep when she walked into the room but he was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling.

"Dylan." Norma said and he looked over at her, standing up right away and walking toward her. "Are you alright?"

"I told my teacher and the nurse I was fine, I don't know why they called you." Dylan said as they walked out to the office. Norma checked him out quick and they headed to the car, the whole drive home Dylan dodged any question she asked about what was wrong and hopped out of the car as soon as they were parked. She followed him inside to the foyer and he hung up his backpack on a coat rack, before she had a chance to shut the door they heard a loud piercing noise from outside and Dylan dropped to the ground.

"Dylan!" Norma yelled, kneeling down on the floor next to him. His eyes were widened and he stared out the door behind her. "Sweetie, it was just a car backfiring." She told him then sat all the way down and pulled him into her arms, feeling his heart racing. "It's okay." She said, rubbing his hair.

"It's not- it's not okay." Dylan said, his voice as shaky as his hands. "I froze."

"What?" Norma asked, holding the sides of his face so he would look at her.

"When Alex got shot, I froze. When you were talking to me I couldn't hear a word you were saying, I couldn't even move."

"That happens, when traumatic things happen sometimes our minds shut down."

"But I'm not supposed to do that, I shouldn't get scared."

"Dylan, you do not have to be strong all the time, no one has to."

"But you are." Dylan said and Norma shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.

"I'm really not. Maybe I hide it better but I get scared all the time, and I worry all the time. And not just about the big things, I worry about stupid things that shouldn't matter at all. Fear and agonizing is a natural thing to feel and it's nothing to ever be ashamed of."

"How do I stop being scared?"

"It won't happen instantly, but keeping it bottled up inside is never going to help. You need to talk about it, you need support and you can't be stubborn about needing someone to get you through it."

"Will you help me?"

"I will always help you, no matter what." Norma said and pulled him into a hug. They held each other a minute then Norma stood up, holding her hands out to him. "Come on, hop up off the floor." She told him and he grabbed her hands, pulling himself up. She let go of one of his hands but kept the other, closing the front door and leading him to the den.

"What are we doing?" Dylan asked as they reached her bed.

"You haven't had a good nights rest in days, we're gonna lay down and I'm going to rub your hair just like I did when you were little and you couldn't sleep."

"I'm a little too old for that now."

"It's just for today, lay down." Norma said and he climbed onto the side of the bed Norman always slept on. She laid down next to him and rested her arm across his pillow, he covered up and she started slowly stroking his hair. Just like magic his eyes began to close and his breathing slowed till he was fast asleep, she stayed with him not wanting to leave his side the whole time letting him sleep till Norman got home. Alex didn't get home till late and went straight upstairs after dinner, clearly exhausted from his first full day back at work. After Norma got the boys to bed she went up to see if he would wake up long enough to get his bandage changed and once she got up to his room she saw the bedroom door was open, the sign they had come up with for when he was awake so she wouldn't have to knock. She entered inside and glanced around the room, not seeing him anywhere in sight. After checking the bathroom she was about to leave his room and search for him in other parts of the house when she noticed one of the french doors in his room was opened a crack. She walked over and opened it further seeing him sitting out on his balcony, perched back in his chair.

"This your secret treehouse?" Norma asked, finally getting his attention.

Alex turned his head and glanced over at her. "Something like that."

"All the time I've been here I didn't realize this was up here."

"You're not very observant." He said and she smiled, walking over to the railing and leaning her back against it. "Sorry I don't have much seating, I'm normally the only one that comes out here."

"That's fine, I haven't had much time on my feet today anyways." Norma said, referring to her time with Dylan from earlier.

"How is Dylan doing?"

"A lot better, I think he just needed to talk about it and get some good rest."

"I'm glad, he's a good kid."

"He really is." Norma said with a smile. "Are you ready for me to change your dressings?"

"I already did them before you came up here."

"How did you get the back one all by yourself?"

"It's not that far to reach."

"But you could hurt yourself bending like that."

"I was careful." Alex said then took a swig of the cup of whiskey that had been sitting beside him.

"And you're drinking?" Norma asked in a stern tone.

"Yeah, sorry, you want some?" He said, grabbing the bottle and holding it out to her.

"You can't be drinking, you're on pain medication."

"Don't worry, I stopped taking those yesterday."

"How are you supposed to manage your pain without them?"

"That's what the whiskey is for." Alex said then she rolled her eyes and reached out, taking the bottle he had been offering her. She took a good sip and handed it back to him then looked out off the balcony at the town.

"This is a really beautiful view from up here, you can see so much."

"That's one of the reasons I liked this house, complete view of every house on the block." Alex said as he stood up and looked around with her.

"You like peeking in your neighbors windows?"

"I like being aware of my surroundings, and I can watch and make sure nothing's going wrong."

"When did you get your need to protect everyone? Don't get me wrong it's a good trait to have, I'm just wondering how somebody like you became that way."

"It's not a need to protect everyone, just the people that deserve it. The ones who are too busy protecting other people to worry about themselves." He shrugged, glancing over at her. "Everyone needs someone looking out for them."

"And who looks out for you?"

"I seem to recall a group of people willing to risk their lives and leave with an abusive man to save me. You have the need to protect the people you care about just as much as I do."

"And what makes you think I care about you." Norma joked.

"I can read people, remember."

"Ah yes, your gift." Norma said and they both smiled at each other.

"Norma?" A voice from behind them said, they both looked back and saw Dylan standing there in his pajamas.

"Something wrong?" Norma asked and he stepped outside with them.

"No, I woke up and saw that you weren't there, I couldn't find you and I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine sweetie." She said running her hands into his hair. "I just came up here to change Alex's bandages and we started talking."

"Are you coming back downstairs?"

"I can." Norma said then looked over at Alex. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Night." Alex said then looked down at Dylan. "Get some sleep tonight, okay?"

"I'll try, night Alex." Dylan said and Norma smiled at him as they left.

Alex went and sat back down where he had been when Norma came upstairs, he gently rubbed his shoulder with his good hand. Truthfully changing his bandage was very painful but he wasn't about to tell her that, not only because he didn't want to look weak to her but because it was getting too much for him to be that close to her everyday. Having her sitting beside him and touching his bare skin so often, with her added tracing of her fingertips on the sides of the tape every single time she put a new one on that drove him crazy. It had him hoping to get his sling off as soon as possible so she could move back to the motel, not because he didn't enjoy having them there but he had the feeling if they stayed there too long he would end up doing something stupid and losing the great friendship they had created.


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Even though it is seven in the morning and I have yet to sleep I got impatient and felt the need to post this already, it may have been a bad decision because proofreading hurts the eyes when you're tired. And I know I say thank you for the feedback in every one of these notes but I really mean it, it brings me so much joy to know I can make someone else happy with all this junk I write. So let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex had always hated going to the doctors, part of it was because you had to be completely open with someone you barely knew. Another part had to do with his mom, she had been in and out of doctor's offices, hospitals and psychiatric facilities most of his childhood yet they weren't able to save her. He thought having Norma with would help calm him down a bit, as much as she managed to get on his nerves he always felt a sense of comfort whenever she was around and since she insisted on driving him he didn't even have to ask.

"Are you alright?" Norma asked, watching Alex's leg bounce up and down while he sat in the waiting room.

"Yeah, I just wanna get this over with already."

"I don't know why you are so eager to get it off, it's helping you heal."

"I'm healed, it hasn't hurt all week."

"I still think you should leave it on two weeks like they recommended."

"It's been twelve days, two more days isn't going to make a big difference. Besides they don't have appointments on the weekend and I don't want to keep this thing on till Monday."

"Alex Romero?" A nurse called out as she entered the room. Alex and Norma both stood up then he looked over at her.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked.

"I'm coming in with you."

"Sorry, one second." Alex told the nurse then turned back to Norma. "Why would you do that?"

"I've been helping you with all your medical stuff, I want to make sure they know everything."

"If you come in there and start talking I will never get this sling off."

"Okay fine, I won't talk but I don't want to sit out in this waiting room all by myself."

"You'll sit quietly?"

"I promise." Norma said then Alex and her walked over to the nurse.

"You ready?" She asked and Alex nodded, following her back to the room.

"Please take a seat." The nurse said then Alex sat up on the exam bed and Norma took a seat in one of the extra chairs. She quickly went through all the routine things, taking his temperature, checking his blood pressure then she started going over a few things with him.

"Are you still taking the Oxycodone for your pain?" She asked while scrolling through his chart.

"I took them the first couple days then I didn't need them after that."

"That's good to hear, we like when the pain stops early."

"Well he decided to use whiskey instead to manage the pain." Norma said and Alex glared over at her.

"What happened to your promise to stay quiet?" Alex said and Norma shrugged.

"Are you still having pain now?" The nurse asked.

"No, not any this week."

"Alright, and are you still taking the Temazepam every night?"

"Not every night, only when I've needed it."

"Wait, I thought you only got one prescription after you got shot." Norma said.

"I had them before that, they are a sleep aid."

"Okay, I'll change this to as needed." The nurse said then she finished going over the rest of the things with him. "Alright, the doctor should be with you any minute." She told them then said goodbye.

"Please don't talk the doctor into making me leave this thing on any longer." Alex said.

"You think I have the power to do that?"

"I think if you tried you could get them to craft me a permanent sling I would never be able to get off." Alex said and Norma smirked.

"I will really keep quiet this time."

"Thank you." Alex said then they sat in silence a moment.

"So," Norma said and Alex looked over at her, waiting for her to continue. "I didn't know you needed sleeping pills every night."

"I started taking them a few years ago, it's not a big deal they just help me stay asleep."

"You were having trouble with that before?"

"I've had trouble with it since I was a kid but now with the amount of time I spend at work I need to be able to get in some good hours at night."

"I wish I would have known, I wouldn't have let the boys keep you downstairs so late all of those nights."

"I didn't mind, if anything it helped me sleep better."

"They wear you out with their bickering?"

Alex chuckled lightly. "No, I guess it helped having something to keep my mind on when I was around them, like a distraction from whatever bad was going on at the time. I haven't had to take my meds once since you guys started staying at my place, you all have this energy in you that makes me think a little less about all the crap that has happened."

"Wow." Norma said surprised.

"What?" Alex said quickly, wondering if he had said something wrong.

"It's just, I've never heard anyone else explain it like that. I've thought for years that they were like this bright spot in my life, anything could be going on but once they were beside me everything seemed better."

"Well they're great kids, you did a good job with them."

"I wish I could take more credit for it, they came out that way."

"No, it was all you. I see how you are with them, not many kids have parents like you, I sure didn't."

Norma went to speak more when they heard a light knock at the door, followed by the doctor entering the room. It took a bit of time but Alex managed to talk the doctor into getting rid of his sling already then he went over a few do's and don'ts for him over the next few weeks and ways to keep regaining his strength back. Then they were on their way back to Alex's house to get ready for their work days after making plans to share one last meal together tonight. Norma knew the day was going to come when they finally left Alex's house and went back to their own place, well their motel room. It felt surprisingly strange, they had spent almost three weeks staying there and she had gotten used to having another adults company. It was different than when she lived with Sam, she used to dread her husband getting home from work but with Alex she enjoyed the days when he got home early and spent time with her and the boys. And even though she knew Alex was fully capable of taking care of himself, more so than most men she knew, she still liked making him meals and cleaning up around his house. So now standing in his den packing up their stuff she couldn't help but feel saddened that they wouldn't be around each other everyday, of course they would still see one another but it wasn't going to be like it had been living together. The boys would be getting home soon, the both up them went to Emma's house after school to hang out and her father was in town so he agreed to drop them off before suppertime. When the front door opened she assumed it was going to be them home early but instead Alex stepped inside.

"Hey, you're off work already?" Norma asked as he walked into the den.

"Yeah, slow day." He said and looked around the room. Everything was set in piles on the beds, neatly organized. "Are you sure you don't have obsessive compulsion?"

"I don't want to accidentally forget anything."

"If you forget something I'm not going to steal it, you can always come back and get it."

"I enjoy packing like this. We left Arizona in such a hurry that I didn't get the time to grab everything we could have used, or wanted."

"You can get your stuff now, now that Sam is sentenced you are the rightful owner of your house. I looked into it and the payments are all still up to date so you could pack everything up and have it sent here, you could sell the house quick before you have to make too many more payments." Alex told her while she kept packing. "Unless you are planning on moving back there now that he is gone."

"I was considering it, although it's cheap and old we had that house since before Norman was born. But the more I thought about it I realized all the bad memories we had there far outweigh the good ones. Then I spoke with Dylan and Norman about it and we decided we are all finally happy, they love their new schools and their friends, plus they have grown pretty fond of a certain deputy in town." Norma said and Alex smiled. "The house already has eight years paid off so once it's sold I should have enough for a good downpayment on a house around here, maybe even another car."

"Well I'm glad everything is working out, you guys deserve something good for once. Now that Sam is out of the picture you won't have as much to worry about." Alex said and Norma paused a moment, deciding whether or not she should ask something. "You okay?" He asked when he noticed she had stopped packing up her bags.

"I've kinda had this question for you, it's been bugging me but I don't know if it's appropriate to ask."

"You never worried about that too much in the past, why start now?" Alex joked but Norma remained serious. "You can ask me anything."

"Why didn't you kill Sam?" She asked, looking straight at him.

"What?"

"You could have, you had every right to. He trespassed on your property, he threatened to kill you then he shot you point blank. I know I don't know many of the rules that cops have but I'm sure that is reason enough to defend yourself."

"I knew I could handle him without resorting to that."

"You didn't know that, you were severely injured and had he not been caught off guard he might have been able to overpower you."

"I had my gun, I wouldn't have let it get to that point."

"Then why didn't you just pull your gun on him after you got his away from him?"

"I don't know, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"I'm sure that wasn't the first time you had a gun pulled on you, you wouldn't have made it as far as you had in your job if you panicked everytime something like that happened."

"I'm not sure what you are getting at, Norma."

"You wanted to hurt him, I saw it. When you were hitting him I could just tell, there was something in you that knew he deserved it."

"Of course I knew he deserved it, after everything he put you and the boys through he deserved much worse than a beating."

"That's exactly what I'm saying, you wanted to kill him." Norma said and Alex took a deep breath.

"Dylan was right when he said I wouldn't tell the truth about killing someone, I have had to in situations where it was truly necessary. And yes, I did have every right to kill Sam and it wouldn't have bothered me to do it. But I couldn't do that to you, if I killed him it would have hurt you and I wasn't willing to do that."

"It wouldn't have hurt me, he abused me for years and he treated my kids like they were garbage."

"You loved him though."

"I haven't loved him in a long time, our marriage had been a mess for years."

"But you did love him, and he is Norman's father. You may not think it but part of you would have cared, no matter what he did."

"Why do you think you know everything I feel?" Norma asked, taking a step toward him. She wasn't upset at all, more curious.

"Because I can tell you are the type of person kind enough to feel compassion for the devil." Alex finished getting his sentence out just before Norma placed her hand on the back of his neck and stepped closer to him, his breath hitched at the sudden contact and he stared into her eyes that were now just centimeters from his. He couldn't move at all, he felt frozen in place and he watched her lean in closer to him. He let his eyes drift shut when he felt her breath against his skin, seconds later her lips lightly pressed onto his. It didn't take him long to respond, wrapping his arms around her as he gently kissed her back. They didn't waste too much time on soft kisses before they were both hungrily attacking each others lips, pulling their bodies tightly together. "Wait, Norma." Alex said and she stopped, staying wrapped in his arms. "Is this what you want?" He asked and she nodded, staring back down at his lips. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure, I want this." She said and he didn't need any further confirmation before kissing her again. Her hands traveled to the buttons on his uniform, unhooking each one and pushing it off his shoulders leaving him in his black tee shirt. He backed her up slowly toward the bed without losing contact from her lips, leaning her down onto it and pushing aside her neatly stacked piles of clothes. He knew she might not be happy with him later about that but neither of them cared at the moment as he laid her back and placed both his hands on the bed beside her, keeping most of his weight off of her. They both enjoyed the feel of each others lips awhile then Alex leaned to the side resting onto one arm while he ran his other hand to her leg, slowly pushing the hem of her dress up. All a sudden Norma stopped kissing him and pushed him off of her, crawling out from underneath him and standing up. Luckily the pain he was feeling in his arm from her shoving him covered up any look of shame. He sat up on the bed quickly and rubbed his shoulder. "Get up, now." She said and he obeyed her, getting right off the bed and standing up.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" Alex was cut off by the front door opening.

"He won't mind, you can come right in." They heard Norman tell someone. Alex quickly bent over and picked up his discarded uniform from the floor, not having time to put it back on he tossed it into the porch. He followed Norma out of the den and over to the front door where the boys were standing along with Emma and her father.

"Hi Norma." Emma said sweetly.

"Hi Emma, you have fun today?" Norma asked, her whole emotion had changed and it was almost as if nothing had happened between them moments before.

"Yes, Dylan helped me and Norman with our reading."

"That was nice of you." Norma said, smiling over at him.

"It was easy, they knew most of the words already."

"I hope you don't mind us coming in, I wanted to make sure they got inside safely." Her father said.

"Of course not, thank you." Norma said then looked over at Alex. "I'm not sure if you two have met but this is Emma's father, Will."

"We haven't officially, Alex Romero." Alex said and held his hand out to him.

"Will Decody." He said, shaking his hand.

"I've heard a lot of talk about you at the Arcanum Club, you're the one who did that stuffed bear, right?"

"I am, I really hadn't done much taxidermy in years but they came to me and asked if I could work on that one."

"Well it looks great."

"Thank you." Will said then placed his hand on Emma's back. "We should be heading out, I have to get started on her dinner."

"Audrey isn't cooking?" Norma asked, remembering once when Emma brought up how she was actually a pretty great cook.

"No, she's out for the evening with some of her girlfriends, it's just me and Emma tonight."

"How about you join us for dinner then? I already got a couple turkey pot pies ready for the oven and the kids could play more while it cooks."

"I wouldn't want to impose."

"You wouldn't be, right Alex?" She said, looking over at him for the first time.

"Not at all." Alex said then Emma tugged on her father's arm.

"Can we, please?" Emma asked.

"If you really don't mind." Will said then Norma gestured to the living room.

"It's fine, really, come have a seat." She said then they all walked into the living room, the kids squeezing onto the loveseat together while Will and Alex took a seat on the couch.

"Geez, what happened to your bed?" Dylan asked, looking into the den at Norma's now very messy piles of clothes.

Norma glanced at it then awkwardly at Alex before answering. "Ah, the craziest thing. I was packing up our stuff and I had it all in neat piles until I tripped on the leg of the bed and the pullout folded in and messed everything up, I was in the middle of fixing them when you got here." She said then pointed toward the kitchen. "I'm gonna go get those pies in." She told them then headed into the kitchen.

Alex looked back at her while she left the room then over at Will when he heard him start to talk. "So Emma was telling me you are the Deputy here."

"Yeah, I've only had the job a few months but I've been an officer in this town about ten years now."

"Well you've been doing good, this town is a better place than it was when I first visited."

"Thank you, we've been trying." Alex said then glanced out at the kitchen where Norma was getting dinner ready, he stood up from the couch suddenly and Will looked up at him. "I'm gonna grab some water, would you like anything to drink? I know we have a pitcher of ice tea in the fridge."

"Tea would be good, thank you." Will said then Alex looked over at the kids.

"Any of you want something to drink?"

"Can I have a juice box?" Norman asked.

"I'll have one too." Emma said.

"I'm good." Dylan said, holding up his water bottle. "I still have my water from Emma's house."

"Alright." Alex said then walked into the kitchen, Norma noticed him but kept working, going into the fridge to grab out butter for the rolls. Alex walked up right behind her and she backed up into him lightly when she stood all the way up, freezing in place. "Sorry, I wanted to see if we still had that iced tea left, I offered some to Will."

"Yeah." Norma said then grabbed the pitcher out and brought it over to the counter with her, taking out a cup from the cupboard to fill it up. Alex thought about telling her he could handle it but she seemed to be on a mission already so he just grabbed out a couple juice boxes and a water bottle. He tucked the water under his arm and held the juices in one of his hands then waited next to Norma while she filled it full. "Here." She said and placed it into his free hand, avoiding eye contact with him the whole time then she went right back to cooking.

"Thanks." He said awkwardly then walked back into the living room and gave everyone their drinks.

There wasn't a moment of silence during dinner and yet Norma and Alex hadn't shared a conversation once the whole time, when they said something it would always be to Will or one of the kids. It wasn't really intentional but for once they couldn't think of anything to say to each other, luckily no one but them had noticed. After they were all finished eating and cleaning up they said goodbye to their guests, sending them home with a couple pieces of leftover pie since they had enjoyed it so much. Norma and the boys got the rest of their packing done pretty quickly then Alex helped them load it all into his SUV and drove them back to their place, bringing everything back into the motel room. Alex set down the bag he had insisted on carrying inside despite Norma claiming he would hurt his arm doing, the boys both walking over to him to say goodbye.

"Thanks for letting us stay with you." Dylan said. "And helping with Sam."

"My pleasure." Alex said with a smile.

"Thank you, Alex." Norman said and gave him a hug, Alex bent down to his level to return it.

"You're welcome buddy, it was nice having you all." Alex said then he stood up and looked over at Norma, she was beside them smiling sweetly at the gesture between him and her sons. He wasn't sure what he should do now, had it been any other day he would have been fine with hugging her goodbye but now he wasn't so sure. He didn't have to think about it much though since she stepped toward him and opened her arms, inviting him into a hug. It lasted a little longer than Alex had expected it to, giving him a chance to wrap his arms around her.

"Thank you so much for everything." Norma said while her head rested on his shoulder.

"Anytime." Alex said then they pulled apart.

"Well I guess we will see you around."

"Yeah, I'll see you around." Alex said then gave a quick goodbye to all of them before walking out the door. He climbed back into his car and started up the engine, looking over at the motel door. He wanted so much to march back up to their room and apologize to Norma for what had happened, clearly she had just got caught up in the moment and was smart enough to come to her senses before they made it any worse. But he knew it was better to leave it be, if she wanted to talk about it she would have when they were alone again in the kitchen. He threw his car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving them and his thoughts of it behind for now.


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: I have a few things I want to bring up in this note instead of my usual ramblings about how much I love you guys (I really do though). The first thing is that I'm going to be changing the rating of this story next chapter to M. And I know what you are thinking but stop those dirty thoughts, I am not writing smut. Although I used to write that kind of stuff I really don't care to much anymore, there will only be things that are suggestive or a little more forward than it has been. The change is more because I'm not sure how far I can take things in this rating since it's much different on here than back when I started out and I have some harsher topics and events that will eventually be brought up. Just putting that out there so anyone following this knows you'll have to filter the rating up to show the fic when I update. And the second thing is actually about updates, I'm going to try getting these chapters out closer together if that is something you want. I was kinda set on one or two week updates for awhile so this story wouldn't go too fast but now I'm thinking that would take way too long to get it complete that way. So those were a couple things I wanted to share with you all. As always let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex wasn't ignoring her per se, that would be too strong a word for it, more like not going out of his way to see her. After what happened the day she was leaving he felt like an idiot, it had already been four days and still he had no clue how he could ever approach her again. He knew not to get himself into a position like that with a woman like Norma yet there he was, talking sweet to her and then that kiss. He kissed her, granted she started it but he still couldn't believe it himself. Sure he had thought about it, a lot actually, yet he knew once he did it there was no turning back. You don't get to make out with your good friend then just forget about it, that one thing could ruin everything between them. His phone rang while he was making breakfast and walked over to it, looking at the caller ID. It was the motel number showing up which meant one of two things, Norma was calling on that number knowing he would pick up or Maggie needed help with something. He was hoping it was the latter.

"Hello?" Alex asked, almost burning his hand as he pulled his bread out of the toaster, keeping the phone propped between his ear and shoulder.

"Hey Alex." Maggie spoke over the phone.

"Hey Maggie, what's up?"

"I wanted to see if you had any free time to stop by today, one of the toilets is having problems flushing again."

"I told you you have to replace those things."

"I know, but we are a little short on remodeling funds at the moment. Is there anyway you can take care of it for now?"

"Yeah, what room is it in?"

"Room one."

"I can be there around twelve-thirty." Alex said, knowing that by that time Norma would have been finished cleaning room one and onto the next ones already. _Okay, maybe ignoring her was the right word._

"That's great, thank you Alex." Maggie said then he hung up his phone.

When the time finally came he drove up to the motel, parking as close as he could to the office without blocking the walkway so he could make a speedy entrance and exit. He ran into the office quick and got the keys for room one, it didn't take him long to get the toilet working again. He stopped at his SUV to put away his toolbox and grabbed out a bag to bring to the office, he also had to give the key back. He stepped into the office and froze in place when he saw Norma behind the counter instead of Maggie, she looked up from her work as soon as she heard him come inside.

"Hi." Norma said simply. "You get the toilet fixed?"

"Ah, yeah." Alex said and stepped up to the counter, setting the key in front of her. "I rigged it so all you have to do to get it to flush is jiggle the chain a little."

"That's great, now I won't have guests running in here complaining every time the thing doesn't work."

"Where's Maggie at?"

"She had to run to the store, she asked if I could take a break from cleaning to watch the front desk." Norma said then Alex stood there a moment, trying to decide what to say next then he looked down at the bag in his hand.

"How was Norman's birthday? That was yesterday, right?"

"Yeah yesterday, it was very nice. I took the boys to the arcade a couple towns over and they had a great time."

"That's good." Alex said then lifted up the bag he was holding and set it on the counter. "I got him something, I was just going to drop this off to Maggie to give to you but since you're here."

"You got Norman a birthday present?" Norma asked with a smile.

"Yeah, I got him an electronic Battleship game. I figured it is something they can both use and they can set it up so it calls out the hits, that way him and Dylan won't keep fighting that the other one is cheating when they haven't hit a ship in awhile."

"It will save us all a great amount of headaches, thank you, Alex." Norma said as she set the bag on the floor behind the counter to keep it safe till later when the boys got home. Alex looked at the door and was about to turn around and leave when he stopped himself.

"I wanted to say sorry."

"About?" Norma asked, confused.

"The other day when you left my house, I shouldn't have-"

Norma cut him off. "Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who kissed you first."

"But I shouldn't have let it get that far, you had a ton going on and a lot of unsure emotions towards me because of what I had just done. I should have known not to pursue something you were going to regret."

"What makes you think I regretted it?"

"You pushed me off of you, that's usually a pretty good sign for not wanting something to happen."

"I didn't push you off of me because I didn't want it to happen, I did it because I heard the car doors and I knew that it was probably the boys getting dropped off."

"Really?"

"Didn't you hear it too?"

"My mind was kind of on other things at the time." Alex said making her chuckle. "So you're not regretting it then?"

"The timing really wasn't the best and I was a little upset afterwards that we messed up my packing piles. But no, I don't regret it." Norma said and Alex tried his best to hide the smile that was forming. "Do you regret it?"

"I did."

"Oh." Norma said, a little hurt.

"I thought that it would ruin our friendship, I didn't want to lose you over it. But now that I know how you feel about it, I don't regret it anymore."

"Now that you mention it, I hadn't really thought about what it could do to our friendship." Norma said in a serious tone. "We shouldn't risk it, we should just forget it ever happened."

Alex stared at her, hoping for an indication that she was joking but she gave him nothing. "You- you want to forget about it?"

"I wasn't thinking it through before, you really opened my eyes." Norma said and watched him stare blankly at her for a moment before her face filled with a sly smile.

"Funny." Alex said shaking his head at her. "I'm glad this is all very entertaining for you."

"It's just, I've never seen you so flustered before, I had to relish in it a little."

"Ah ha." Alex said as he walked behind the counter and stood right beside her, she turned to face him with a confused look.

"What are you doing?" She asked then he placed a hand on the side of her face and gently rubbed his thumb across her cheek.

Alex could see her tense up instantly, not because she wasn't liking it because he was already sure she was by the way she stared at him. He leaned into her slowly then when she closed her eyes he placed a feather light kiss on her lips before pulling away. She kept her eyes shut a few moments longer waiting for more but when nothing happened she opened them to see him smiling at her. "You look a little flustered."

"Revenge suits you well." Norma said while he let his hand drop from her face but stayed standing in the same place.

"So do you think you could get a babysitter this Saturday?"

"Why? You planning on taking me on a proper date to tease me some more?"

"Well it wouldn't exactly be a date, there is this function going on in town. It's like a formal benefit for any improvements the town might need and I'm required to go, really it's just an excuse for everyone to get together to drink fancy champagne and complain about the whole place going to hell. I'm normally pretty miserable the whole night but if you came with it might help."

"I hope you're not the one making the brochures otherwise there won't be much of a turn out."

Alex smirked. "So what do you think, can you get away for one evening?"

"I'll have to ask Maggie but I'm sure if she doesn't have any plans she would be up to it."

"Well if she can then I will pick you up at six-thirty, the event goes till midnight."

"I'll let you know."

"Alright, I'll give you a call later." Alex said then leaned in and gave her a quick goodbye kiss before leaving, Norma smiled the moment the office door shut then got back to work. Not long after Maggie got back and she discussed her plans with Alex, she agreed to watch the boys for the evening. Later after finishing her work and making supper for everyone her and her sons went back to the motel room for the night.

"Alex stopped over and brought you something today." Norma said, taking the bag out from where she had hidden it under the bed. Norman peeked inside the bag at the neatly wrapped box and smiled.

"A present?" Norman asked, pulling it out of the bag.

"He knew it was your birthday yesterday and he wanted to get you something you and your brother could both use." Norma said and Dylan walked over to them.

"It's for both of us?" Dylan asked.

"Basically. He wanted something you could enjoy too." Norma said then Norman wasted no time ripping the wrapping paper off.

"Oh cool, Battleship." Norman said, looking over his new present. "Now we don't have to borrow the one from the office anymore."

"And it's electric so you can program it to tell you when one of your ships have been hit."

"That way Norman won't cheat anymore." Dylan said.

"You are the one who cheated last time!" Norman said.

"Okay, this is why it's nice we have this one now so you can stop fighting." Norma said, stopping their bickering.

"Can you tell Alex thank you next time you see him?" Dylan asked.

"Well that's actually something else I wanted to talk to you both about." Norma said then patted on the bed. "Come sit."

Dylan looked at her curiously then took a seat on the bed next to them. "Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine." Norma said then took a breath. "Alex has asked me to go to an event with him this Saturday."

"You mean like a date?" Dylan asked bluntly.

"Yeah, like a date."

"You can't date him." Norman said and Norma glanced over at him.

"Why not?"

"You and dad are married, you can't be with someone else when you are married."

"Norman, he's in prison now, not to mention he tried to kidnap us all at gunpoint." Dylan explained. "The last thing we need to worry about is some stupid vows they made a long time ago."

"But a kid at school said that his dad dated another girl when he was married and his mom kicked him out of the house and threw away all his stuff."

"Sam isn't coming back, he's not apart of her life anymore."

"Sweetie, you understand that your dad and me aren't going to be together ever again, right?" Norma asked.

Norman nodded. "Yeah, I like it that he is gone but isn't it still wrong to date someone else?"

"If me and your father were still together it would be very wrong, but he knows we are done and I know for sure."

Norman sat a minute and thought about what they had told him. "I guess it's okay then." He said then started opening his new game up.

Norma smiled then looked over at Dylan. "What about you? Are you okay with this?"

"If I wasn't would you still go?"

"Of course not, I would never do anything either of you weren't comfortable with." Norma told him then she waited for him to respond. "Does that mean you don't want me to go?"

"No, if you want to go then I want you too. But are you really sure that's what you want to do?"

"Why wouldn't it be, Alex is an amazing guy."

"I know that, that's why I'm asking. He has been great and he has helped us out so much. I just don't want you to feel like you owe him for anything, or that him taking care of us is the only reason you like him."

"Alex helping us is a huge part of it, but it is not the only reason. I'm not going out with him because I think I owe him, I'm doing it because I really like him."

"Then I'm okay with it."

"How did I get such good kids?" Norma asked and Dylan smiled at her then turned to Norman.

"Alright, let's get this thing set up so I can kick your butt."

Over the next few days Norma didn't get much of a chance to see Alex, it wasn't like when they were living together and they saw each other everyday no matter what. Now if either of them had a busy day at work they could barely get in a phone call let alone a quick visit so she was really looking forward to tonight. The event itself didn't sound like a great deal of fun but like he had said if they went together it would be good enough, and of course with formal events she had to go through her least favorite routine, getting ready.

"What do you think, the navy blue dress or the red one?" Norma asked the boys, holding up her choices.

"You realize you are asking two boys their opinion on a fancy dress, we aren't going to be much help." Dylan told her, not paying much attention while he read a magazine.

"I like the blue one." Norman said.

"Thank you sweetie." Norma said and threw the red one aside. "I hope you two know how lucky you are to be men someday, all you have to do is throw on a dress shirt and some dark slacks and they call it formal."

"Alex is going to be here any minute so unless you want him taking you in a robe you should probably hurry." Dylan said and she rushed into the bathroom to change into her dress and did any final touches on her makeup. It was perfect timing as she walked back out into the room and there was a light knock at the door, she straightened her dress then walked over to the door and opened it wide. The second she saw him she looked him over shamelessly, he wore a perfectly fitted black suit with a blue tie similar to the color on the dress she was wearing.

"I've never seen you in a suit before." She said, finally looking up at his face.

"Well it's a formal event, suits are kind of mandatory." Alex said with a smile, glancing at her outfit. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." She said then awkwardly turned to her sons. "Um, remember to stay in this room till Maggie is done working. And don't give her too much trouble tonight, oh and call me if you need anything."

"You already told us all this Norma." Dylan said.

"I'm reminding you."

"We will be good and we won't need anything, now go have fun." Dylan said then they all said a quick goodbye before they left. It was a short drive to the venue, the event was being held at the only hall in town and the side streets were littered with cars but Alex pulled right up next to the building.

"I didn't think there would be a spot left open this close." Norma said while she watched people walking into the event in their fancy clothing.

"Perks of being a deputy, reserved parking." Alex said as he put his car into park and shut off the engine.

"I don't see a sign anywhere."

"That's because everyone knows this is my spot, they wouldn't dare park in it."

"If only they knew this tough cop act wasn't real and that you're actually a softie."

"I am not." Alex said with a chuckle.

"You were singing 'Endless Love' on the way here."

"I was not singing, I was humming a little."

"Yeah but that's not the story I'm going to tell everyone."

"You know I could still take you back home."

"Inviting me back to your place already, isn't it a little soon in the date?"

"I meant taking you home then coming back here alone."

"Alright fine, I won't tell anyone about your love for Lionel Richie songs." Norma said then Alex hopped out of the car and before she knew it he was on her side, he opened up her door and held his hand out to her. She took it and stepped down onto the pavement, he didn't release her hand just intertwined it with his as they walked. The whole way inside they kept getting odd looks and people would turn to whisper to each other, Norma noticed right away then once they were standing still she leaned in to whisper to Alex. "Why is everyone staring at us?"

"You look amazing, can you blame them?"

"Really, why are they looking?"

"I probably should have told you but I never have brought anyone with me before."

"In all the years they've been doing this event you have never brought someone?"

"Not just this one, I never did it with any of the events."

"Okay this might be a little late to be asking this but you have dated before, right?" Norma asked and Alex stared over at her.

"I'm in my thirties, what do you think?"

"I don't know, you once said that your job was your life and those guys are usually the ones without girlfriends."

"I've dated before, just not anyone I wanted to bring to one of these things."

"Why wouldn't you bring them, were they that embarrassing?"

"No, I wasn't very serious with any of them so I didn't see the point in bringing them."

"But you brought me."

"Yeah-" Alex said then was cut off by an older couple walking over to them.

"Alex, that can't be you, actually making physical contact with someone in public." The older man said and they both looked down at where their hands were still clasped tightly together, it hadn't occurred to either of them to let go the whole time.

Alex let go of her hand and set his palm on the small of her back. "Norma, this is Declan and his wife Pamela."

"It's nice to meet you." Norma said shaking both of their hands. "You're his father's old partner, right?"

"I am at that, you've heard of me?"

"Alex has told me a few stories."

"I hope only the good ones."

"There were only good ones with you, Dec." Alex said.

Declan smiled at Alex and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I'll leave you kids alone, enjoy the event and remember not to eat any of the salmon."

"I know, see you later Declan." Alex said then the older couple walked off.

"Don't eat the salmon, is that some kind of cop code?" Norma asked.

"No, it just means don't eat the salmon, it's terrible here every year."

Norma laughed and looked around the room. It was a pretty sad excuse for an event, the tables were set with cheap tablecloths and the bulk of the decorations looked like they had been from a lame nineties prom. Still however she felt happy being there, she never took much part in anything her old town had going on, there was never time before but now she was getting to lead a whole different life and it was exciting to say the least. "Thank you for bringing me here." She said to Alex and he smiled over at her.

"I wouldn't thank me yet, you still haven't gone through five hours of political small talk." Alex said then he looked over at Oliver and Krista who were already seated at a table. "We should go sit, they have a auction starting soon."

"A auction, if you would have told me about that I would have brought some cash with." Norma told him as they walked toward them.

"Trust me, it is nothing anyone here wants to buy, people just bid on the stuff to help out the town." Alex said as they got to their table, he pulled out a chair for her then took his own seat.

"Finally we won't have an empty chair at our table, it was starting to look pretty sad on your end." Oliver said.

"I just sat down, do you have to start already?" Alex asked.

"Gotta have fun somehow on this dreadful night."

"You too, it's not like anyone is being maimed here." Norma said.

"To be honest I might take that over being here."

"They just enjoy whining, it's usually pretty fun after the auction is over." Krista told her. "And it will be nice to have a conversation with you while I'm not intoxicated, I don't remember much from that party but I remember you are quite funny." She said then Chloe came up to the table with one of the other receptionists from the station.

"When does the auction start?" Debby, the women beside her asked. "I wanna see how much the collection of tractor figurines goes for."

"Is that what you put your money down on?" Krista asked.

"Yeah, I was between that or the glass frogs for awhile."

Krista leaned toward Norma and explained. "Every year we get a list of what's going to be auctioned off at this event and we make bets for which thing will go for the most money."

"And you didn't think this event was fun?" Norma joked to Alex.

"Wait, Norma, right?" Chloe asked as she looked her over and she nodded. "I didn't recognize you at first, you look different all dressed up."

"This your date, Alex?" Debby asked.

Alex looked over at Norma to confirm if that's what he should be calling her, she smiled at him which he took as a yes. "Yeah." He said and Chloe's gaze fell back on Norma, this time not as nice looking as she was before.

"Sit down ladies, it's starting." Krista told them when she saw the announcer walk out with a microphone.

Norma leaned over to Alex and started to whisper, "I know I'm not apart of this bet but I would've stuck with the glass frogs over some dumb tractor." She said making Alex smile.

The auction went on for the next hour, they weren't kidding at all when they told her how ridiculous the items being sold were. Much to Norma's amusement the glass frogs ended up holding the highest record price for item sold that night. After it was over the dj came out and they went straight into the music portion of the event, a slow song filled the air and all the couples that had been seated rose to their feet. Alex glanced over at Norma and held out his hand.

"Are you asking me to dance with you?" Norma asked and Alex nodded, she gave him an unsure look then placed her hand in his. She really wouldn't peg him as a dancer but once they hit the floor she was proven wrong, he held her close and she laid her head on his shoulder while they swayed with the music. "I got a divorce yesterday." She blurted out and he stopped moving, she lifted her head off of him and looked up. "I wanted you to know that."

Alex went back to moving and talked to her as they danced. "When did you do all that?"

"I filed the papers right away, the day after Sam had showed up." Norma said then let out a soft chuckle. "Never has my last name changed so many times in such a short period of time."

"Are you sad about it? I'd understand if you were."

"Not at all, I actually feel great."

"So what are your plans now?"

"Well since I'm newly single I thought I might play the field a little, different guy every week, maybe a couple of them if I'm not too busy at work." Norma joked.

"Don't think you'd like to stick to just one for awhile?"

"I don't know, he'd have to be pretty special for me to do that."

"Guess I'm out of luck then."

"Don't cut yourself short." Norma said then she leaned in and gave him a sweet kiss.

"Hey, none of that on the dance floor." Oliver said to them as him and Krista danced next to them, both of them pulling apart some.

"Will you leave them alone." Krista said, playfully slapping her husband.

"There is a bunch of room to dance, why are you over here?" Alex asked Oliver.

"Well we were coming over here because I wanted to dance with the second most beautiful lady at this party, and my wives been trying to get her hands on you for years now." Oliver said and he held out his hand to Norma. "Can I have this dance?"

"Of course." Norma said and took his hand, the two split apart from their partners and went off on their own.

"Can I tell you that I am really happy you and Alex are a thing now, I was starting to get worried about him." Oliver told Norma while they danced.

"Worried?" Norma asked, not sure by what he meant.

"Just with everything that went down with his dad. He was starting to distance himself from everyone right before you showed up, seems you opened his eyes."

"I don't know about that."

"Really. I grew up with Alex and he has always had this shield up, he wouldn't let anyone close to him, even me most of the time but with you he doesn't do that."

"Why was he so guarded?"

"I should probably let him explain all of that to you, let's just say he didn't have the best childhood."

"He's kind of hinted at that before."

"Don't be surprised if it never comes up, it's not really his favorite subject."

"I'll let him tell me when he's ready, I know what it's like to shy away from bad past memories."

"I think you two are going to be really good for each other."

"I hope so." Norma said and smiled over at Alex who was spinning Krista around, he noticed and smiled back at her.

"You seem so happy." Krista told Alex as they danced.

"I am." Alex said truthfully.

"I could only wonder why." Krista joked, looking back at Norma who was laughing at something Oliver said to her. "I like her a lot, try not to screw it up."

"I'll do my best." Alex said as the song ended. "Excuse me." He said then went over to the other pair. "Mind if I get my date back?"

"She's all yours." Oliver said releasing Norma and giving Alex a pat on the back as he passed him and walked back to his wife. Alex stepped forward and took Norma back in his arms like they had never let go and begun to dance again.

"For someone who said this isn't technically a date you haven't minded calling me your date twice already." Norma said.

"I only said that because this really isn't my idea of a proper first date."

"Why not? We had fine entertainment watching those two older ladies fight over who won the hand painted giraffe, we ate somewhat edible finger sandwiches and now we are dancing."

"It doesn't take much to impress you."

"Well lucky for you my standards are pretty low." Norma joked. "Really though, I've had a great time."

"I'm glad, I like when you're happy." Alex told her and she smiled.

"How long are you required to stay at this thing?" She asked, playing with the bits of hair on the back of his neck.

"This is actually the longest I've ever been at one of these things."

"So you are allowed to leave already?"

"Yeah. Why, are you ready to go home?" Alex asked, trying to hide his disappointment.

"Not home, Maggie's watching the boys for a couple more hours."

"Where are you thinking then?" He asked then she pulled him into a kiss, she pulled away a bit then went back and left a few more light kisses. "Okay, let's get out of here." He spoke with his eyes still closed, resting his forehead on hers. He opened them then took her hand, leading her out of the event hall. The drive to Alex's house was silent and it gave Norma time to think a bit, it was a little strange for her that she was being taken back to his house especially since she knew what would happen once they got there. And it wasn't because she didn't want to, but the whole night had been so foreign to her. She'd only ever slept with three other men. The first carried memories too painful for her to think about, the second was her first husband who she had dated in highschool and the only reason she had even slept with him was to get away from her family. Their first time was a rash idea she had one night while they were studying together that she didn't think much about. And the third was Sam, she was upset with her husband and drinking when she met him at a bar, not much of their first time was remembered other than waking up in his bed the next morning with a slamming headache. But with Alex everything was different, it almost would have been easier if they weren't interrupted a few days before because at least she wouldn't be getting inside her head about it now.

"Norma?" Alex said as he turned off the car.

"Yeah?" She asked, being pulled out of her thoughts.

"We're here." He said and she looked out at his house. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She said then got out of his car, he hopped out and met her by her door, shutting it behind her. He placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked to his front porch, she glanced over at him once they got to the door and noticed his usual stoic expression was replaced with what she could only assume was agitation while he fumbled with his house keys. Something about him being a little nervous too made her feel better, and it made her decide right then that she didn't want to wait any longer. He opened the door and they both walked inside, she leaned back onto the door closing it.

"Do you want something to drink?" Alex asked then when she didn't say anything he looked back at her, still leaning on the door. He didn't manage to get another word in before she reached out and grabbed a hold of his coat and tugged him towards her, planting her lips right onto his. It took him no time at all to kiss her back, pulling her away from the door some so he could wrap his arms around her. Her hands went up and pushed his suit jacket, trying to let it fall off his shoulders when he stopped and looked at her, their faces still centimeters apart. "Are you sure you're ready this time?"

"I'm sure, I was ready last time." Norma said then went back to her attempt to undress him while she kissed him more and he stopped her again. "Alex, I'm really sure." She said in an assuring tone then he reached down and with one quick movement he lifted her off her feet and carried her up the stairs.

Once again Norma was proven Alex was nothing like the men she had been with in the past, he took his time and he made sure she was as comfortable as possible. In one try he managed to satisfy her more than she had ever been before, even once they were finished he stayed close to her. They laid on the bed facing each other, Alex gently rubbing her bare back, staring into her eyes for an amount of time she couldn't even guess.

"I'm happy to know you are cleaning your bedding still without me here." Norma said, finally breaking the silence.

Alex smiled widely and let out a soft chuckle. "Please tell me that wasn't what you were thinking about all this time."

"Not the whole time." Norma joked and Alex leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"I'm gonna tell you something that hopefully won't creep you out." Alex said and Norma's eyebrows short up.

"Always a good thing to say to someone after sex."

"I had a dream about you while you were staying here."

Norma smirked. "Really, when?"

"That morning you came into my room when I had clearly told you not to." Alex said and Norma paused a moment, thinking back to that morning.

"Is that why you were acting so strange?"

"Well I don't think I'd call it strange, you had busted into my room while I was sleeping and tried to wash everything I owned."

"So what was this dream about?"

Alex rolled her over onto her back and laid lightly on top of her, leaning in to kiss her. "How about I show you?"

"If I had known it was this kind of dream I wouldn't have woke you."

"It's alright, the real version of you is even better." Alex said and nuzzled his head into her neck, leaving wet kisses on it. Norma enjoyed the feel for a moment more then she looked over at his bedside clock.

"We don't really have time, I gotta be back to the motel in half an hour."

"We better be quick then." He mumbled against her skin while he continued.

"So romantic." Norma said then he moved up and caught her lips with his own, exploring her mouth for what must have been the hundredth time that night. "Okay, you win."


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: I realize I said I was going to update sooner this time then I failed completely. I didn't get around to proofreading this chapter as soon as planned so sorry about that, I will however try harder to get these out faster. I also wanted to write a quick note to all the readers on here because I started writing in this fandom after noticing how few stories there actually were, and even since I've noticed a drop in content being put out by other authors, so if you read a story you enjoy let them know so they stick around. And you guys have been pretty awesome to me because I'm a newcomer but there are people on here who have been writing much longer and put much more effort into their work that deserve some praise. Also this fandom could definitely use more authors too so if you have any desire to write my advice would be just to do it, you might be surprised what you can create when you do. I'll end this extremely long note with a thank you for the great support you've given me. Let me know what you think and enjoy!

Dating proved to be more difficult when you are a single mother of two and the guy you are seeing practically lived at his work, yet somehow the two of them managed to find time for a night out together for the first time since they had gone to the benefit eight days before. They saw each other several times since then, most of them when the boys were present then a few times during the day while her kids were at school where they both found a window of time to meet up at Alex's house for a little alone time. Luckily tonight Alex had work off and Maggie was free to keep an eye on the boys for her, she had already done all the work she needed to do at the motel and made dinner for the three of them to warm up once she left. She took a quick shower to wash off the day's work then did her hair and makeup. She knew Alex didn't really care if she got all ready, hell he had lived with her so it wasn't like he hadn't seen her when she wasn't at her best but at this stage in their relationship it was nice to get fixed up for dates with him. She found a nice set of earrings she had and started to put them in while she walked past Dylan, he was sitting at the desk in their room fully concentrated on the textbook in front of him.

Norma hooked her second earring in then reached down and flipped the pages of his book backwards then forwards a few sheets each way and he looked up at her oddly. "What are you doing, Norma?"

"Just making sure you didn't have anything hidden in the pages." Norma said, letting go of the book.

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, you've been staring into that book all weekend so I was half expecting a playboy to be wedged in there."

"I'm trying to study." Dylan said, slightly annoyed as he flipped back to the page he was on before.

"Why so much?"

"We have a test tomorrow."

"Are you worried about it?" Norma said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not worried, I just have four chapters left to go over so I'm trying to hurry."

"Four chapters?" Norma asked, shocked. "You've been studying all weekend, how do you still have that many left?"

"Because I've been stuck on this stupid one for hours now and I still can't figure it out."

"You should have asked me for help."

"You were busy working, I didn't want to bug you. And I thought I could handle it on my own."

"I'm never too busy to help you." Norma said then went over and grabbed her cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Dylan asked, looking back at her.

"I'm calling Alex to tell him to pick me up a little later."

"You don't have to do that, I'm sure I will figure it out soon."

"You haven't figured it out yet, you need help. Alex isn't going to mind waiting awhile."

"It's technically your second date. You can't start cancelling already, it's gonna send a bad message."

"Okay, thank you for the advice but I know Alex and he isn't going to care if we push it back an hour or so."

"I can ask Maggie to help me, I'm sure she understands geometric measurements."

"No offense to Maggie because I love her, but I had to tell her she was spelling laundry wrong the other day."

"It's a tricky word."

"It doesn't matter, she's busy doing inventory with Norman right now." Norma said while she found Alex's number. "I'm calling." She said and he turned back around and looked at his book while it rung.

"Hello?" Alex said over the phone, making some shuffling noises in the background.

"Hey. You're not on your way yet, are you?" Norma asked.

"Ah no, I'm getting a few things ready but I'm almost done."

"What are you getting ready?"

"You are going to have to wait till I get there to see."

"That's actually what I'm calling about, do you mind coming a little later instead?"

"Why, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I didn't know till now that Dylan is pretty behind on his studying and he could really use some help, he's got a test tomorrow at school."

"That's fine, I got some stuff I can catch up on for work tomorrow anyways. Just give me a call when you want me to come over."

"Thank you, Alex." Norma said then they said their goodbyes.

What Norma had assumed would take less than twenty minutes to accomplish ended up being a little over two hours. She hadn't realized how much she had forgotten about sixth grade math over the years and it took her a fair amount of time to figure out the lessen before she was able to help Dylan understand it. She had to give Alex serious credit for how patient he had been through the whole thing, she called him a couple times to give him updates on how long it was taking and even offered him an out of the whole date night but he insisted it was fine they started later despite only having a three hour window before she had to be back at the motel to get the boys ready for bed. When Alex got there to pick her up he said a quick hello to Maggie and the boys before they took off, getting straight into his car to try and salvage the night.

"I'm really sorry we had to start so late." Norma said as he drove.

"You already apologized multiple times and I already told you it was alright, I didn't mind waiting."

"Yes, but Dylan pointed out how it might look bad that on our second date I'm already messing your plans up."

"Helping your son is not messing up anything. And I don't care how long you take, you are always gonna be worth the wait to me." Alex said looking over at her, she turned her head to look out the window, hiding the smile on her face.

"So, where is this mysterious location you are dragging me to?"

"What makes you think it is somewhere mysterious?"

"Well you missed the turn to your house several minutes ago so unless you forgot where you live, you are bringing me somewhere."

"I told you, you have to wait and see."

"Okay, patience may be one of your strong suits but it's not one of mine."

"We are almost there." Alex said then he pulled off the highway and onto a dirt road.

"Should I be worried that you are driving me out into the middle of nowhere?" Norma asked, looking around at the wooded area beside the road. "This looks like a good place to dispose of a body."

"I feel like I should be more worried that you look for good places to dispose of bodies, I drove on this path hundreds of times and the thought never crossed my mind."

"The boys have really gotten into horror movies lately, most of them contain some dumb girl running through the woods in pitch darkness while an axe wielding murderer chases them."

"Well I'll put your mind at ease, I don't have an axe or any other sharp objects in the car." Alex said then he drove up a little further and stopped. "And we're here." He said then Norma looked out the window. They were near a beautiful stream, small cliffs and rocks lining the sides then grass beyond it to where they were parked, there still was just enough sun to shine through the trees and glisten in the water. While Norma was admiring the view Alex hopped out and walked over to her side of the car, opening the door and helping her out. She stepped forward some and stopped just shy of the rocks, looking into the clear waters at the fish swimming through it.

"Is this your secret fishing spot?" Norma asked, looking over at Alex and he nodded. "I thought you never took your dates here."

"I thought I would make an exception for you." Alex said then looked back at the car. "Wait here one minute." He told her them went into the back of his SUV and grabbed out a few things, bringing them over to where she was standing. He set the large white paper bag he was holding on the ground then he took the blanket that had been tucked under his arm out and spread it onto the grass.

"What is all this?"

"A picnic, here take a seat." He said and held out his hand to her, she took it and he helped her sit down on the blanket then found a seat on it next to her.

"You planned us a picnic?" Norma asked, staring at him in amazement.

"Technically, no." Alex said as he grabbed the white bag and set it in front of him. "I planned for us to have dinner at my buddies restaurant before we came here, but there weren't any tables available this late so I had him cook us up a couple to go dishes and I grabbed them before I picked you up." He said then pulled out a tin from the bag and took the lid off, revealing the fresh pasta inside.

"I can't believe you made us reservations, now I feel worse for making our date later."

"Don't be, I like this much better than sitting in some fancy place with a bunch of other people talking around us." Alex said then grabbed a fork out of the bag and held it out to her, she took it from him and tried a bit of the dish.

"Mhmm, that's good." Norma said, getting another forkful.

"Well not as good as yours, but he's only been a five star chef for eight years now so he should catch up to you soon." Alex said and Norma smiled, he grabbed himself a fork and started eating along with her. "So how did Dylan's studying go?"

"It took awhile but he's got it down now, I think he's going to do great tomorrow on that test."

"Why was he having trouble, his teacher not helping him enough?"

"No, it was actually part of the lesson they taught when he was out of school. He didn't want to tell me but he's been playing catch up ever since then."

"You know he gets that from you."

"I know, we're both stubborn." Norma said, thinking back to how he had teased her for that once.

"Well yes, that is true. But I meant your strength and your independence. You don't try to take the easy way out of anything and you never expect anybody to do your work for you. You both remind me of this saying my mom used where you are one person in a four person relay. It may be harder, and it may hurt on the way but you make it to the finish line and you do it all on your own."

"I wanted things to be different for him though, he shouldn't have ever had to be in a position where he had to do everything on his own. It just amazes me how much Sam has taken from those kids, even when he's not around they still suffer from everything he did. I think about how fast they had to grow up, they were babies when it all started. And they can never get that time back, their childhood will always be what it was and it's gonna continue to cripple them the rest of their lives."

"It doesn't have to. Sure they are always going to remember it, but they are going to use it to their advantage. I know what it's like growing up as some defenseless little kid who wishes more than anything that they were strong enough to help. Those boys are going to grow up doing everything in their power to be nothing like Sam because they now know how much men like him can hurt good people like all of you."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I see it in them everytime I'm around them."

"Thank you." Norma said, smiling over at him.

Alex smiled back at her then turned his head away. "Can I be honest with you about something?" He said seriously.

"Of course." Norma said then he looked back at her, a hint of guilt in his expression.

"Before I picked you up, I did something illegal." Alex said and her eyes widened.

"What did you do?"

"I was worried the pasta wasn't going to be enough food so on my way out of the restaurant I stole one of those baskets of bread off one of the tables."

"Alex!" Norma said, laughing. "You scared me, I thought you actually did something bad."

"It is bad. I didn't just pour them into a to go bin, I stole the whole basket." Alex said, pulling it out of the bag.

"Have you checked to make sure they don't have a warrant out on you yet?"

"No, I've been trying to keep a low profile. That's the real reason I brought you out this far."

"I knew it wasn't just because you wanted to show me your secret spot."

"To be really honest I didn't even know they were in the bag till just now, he must have added them in with my order."

"You can't take back your confession, I know you're a dirty cop now." Norma joked then he held the basket out for her to grab one. "Sure, you want me to help you get rid of the evidence." She said as she grabbed one out and took a bite.

"So do you have any plans this week besides work?" Alex asked while they kept eating.

"I'm taking the boys to the store tomorrow to pick out their costumes."

"They don't have those yet? Halloween is five days away."

"Up until a couple days ago they didn't want to dress up because Dylan said it wasn't a cool thing to do, but once Emma told them she got a Princess Peach outfit they decided they wanted to go as Mario and Luigi."

"Should I understand any of what you just said?"

"I really didn't expect you to." Norma said with a chuckle. "I'm just happy it got Dylan more on board with trick or treating with us. He wanted to go on his own but I told him he has to wait till next year so we know the town better and he won't get lost, really I'm just worried about him going out alone."

"Well if you bring them over to my neighborhood we normally have every house lit up, they went all out with decorations too, the kids would love it."

"I suppose you will be out patrolling the streets that night making sure masked teens aren't egging houses."

"I actually have that day off, I try to avoid working Halloween night so I don't have to deal with all the prank calls the station gets."

"If you don't have anything to do you should come with us." Norma said then she felt instant regret, worrying that was too weird of a thing to ask someone you just started dating.

"Well that depends, what costume are you wearing?" Alex asked with a sly grin.

"I'm in between Wonder Woman or one of those sexy nurse costumes that show way too much cleavage." Norma joked.

"What time are we starting at?" Alex said making her laugh.

"I don't dress up." Norma clarified.

"I figured you didn't, but really what time should I come over at?"

"You actually want to come?"

"Yeah, I'd like to."

"You know it's hours of walking around with little children dressed up as food items stepping on your feet all night?"

"I will wear steel toe shoes, I'll be fine." Alex said with a smirk. "They even have a house near mine where they give out adult treats too."

"What the hell are adult treats?"

"Pumpkin spiced cocktails."

"As good as those sound I'll have to pass on them, unless you want me running over children on the drive home."

"You and the boys could stay at my house that night, that way we could go around my whole neighborhood and you wouldn't have to drive home after."

"You want us to stay the night?"

"It's not like you haven't done it before, I still have all the furniture out in the den so all I'd have to do is make the beds up."

"I thought you said you were going to put all that stuff back the last time I was at your house."

"I was but then you decided to use up all my energy while you were there and I was too tired to later." Alex said making Norma smirk.

"I guess it would be nice to go right back to your place, and booze would definitely help the pain from following after sugar crazed kids all night."

"Alcohol just makes it all so much easier." Alex said then he looked down at the food they had stopped eating not too long ago. "You all done?"

"Yeah, it was good." Norma said while Alex picked everything back up and put it in the bag.

"So the suns almost down, should we get out of here?"

"Why, are you afraid of the dark?" Norma teased.

"No, but there really isn't anything to do here once it goes down."

"We could swim."

"Are you crazy? It's like fifty-five degrees out."

"You can keep me warm."

"We are fully dressed."

"We can change that." Norma said then stood up, letting her hands go to her blouse buttons to unhook them.

"I can't skinny dip, I'm an officer. You know how bad that will look if I get caught?"

"You have to live a little deputy, besides we can leave some clothes on." Norma said and tossed her blouse down at him, he moved it aside and watched as she shimmied out of her dress leaving her standing above him in only her undergarments. He reached down and pulled off his shirt, throwing it aside then standing up. While he was unzipping his jeans Norma walked to the stream and started to step in, squealing the second her foot hit the water. "It's cold!"

"Really, I wouldn't have guessed that." Alex said, walking away from his discarded pants in only his boxers. Norma decided to brave the cold and continued to make her way into the water very slowly, after a good amount of time she was finally in completely.

"It's your turn, get in." Norma said then turned around to where Alex had been, no longer seeing him there. "Alex, where are you?" She said and stood taller to see if he was back by his car. "Alex!" She yelled which was immediately followed by a splash next to her making her jump, a few seconds later Alex appeared right next to her from under the water. "Geez, you scared me."

"It's warmer if you jump right in." Alex said, pushing back the wet hair away from his face.

"Where did you even come from?"

Alex pointed at the top of the cliff to where a rope was still dangling back and forth. "Up there."

"Are you crazy? You could have gotten hurt."

"I've been coming here since I was a kid, it's not the first time I jumped from that thing. Me and Oliver were the ones who set up that rope to swing in here with, next time we could bring the boys here and teach them how to do it too."

"They are not swinging from a rope that's been hanging there since you were a kid."

"It's still in great shape and the tree is stronger than it was back then."

"No." Norma said. "Besides they aren't allowed to see our secret spot."

"Our spot? When did it become yours too?"

"Alright I guess if it isn't my spot I won't be coming with you here once it's warmer, I don't know what I'm gonna do with that glossy black swimsuit I have."

"Okay, it's our spot." Alex said then pulled her closer to his body so their bare skin was pressed against each other, he leaned in and kissed her softly then pulled back his head a bit. "It's a little too cold here, I got some towels back at my house that I just cleaned yesterday if you're ready to go."

"Luring me in with freshly washed towels, you really know how to get the ladies back to your place."

"I know of one in particular who is really insistent on clean laundry."

"Let's go." Norma said then they got out of the water and gathered their stuff, finishing their second date at his house like they had the first.

Halloween night came five days later, every house that wasn't already decorated before was now littered with fake graves and fog. They had never seen any town who celebrated a holiday as seriously as this one did, Emma had told them stories about it but never did they think it would be this big of a deal. The boys were glad now they decided on wearing costumes because if they hadn't they would have been the only ones under sixteen who didn't have them on, and even with their last minute decision they still managed to get great looking outfits. The store had been completely out of most everything so Norma bought them both a pair of blue jeans and black suspenders then a red tee shirt and red baseball cap that she sewed the letter 'M' onto for Dylan and a green shirt and green cap with the letter 'L' for Norman. Before they went out they ordered a pizza and ate supper at Alex's house, then Will and Emma walked over from their home so the kids could go to all the houses together. A few houses in they got their 'adult treats' and the whole night seemed just a bit easier after that. A couple hours in Will knew Emma had had enough walking around for one night and brought her home while the boys kept going, hitting every house they could. It wasn't often when they came across a home with no front lights on but everytime they did the house was pitch dark so they figured they might be out trick or treating themselves, until they came up on one house with the lights off yet Norman started to walk up the driveway.

"Norman, the lights aren't on." Dylan told him, pulling him back some.

"But the car is in the driveway, and they have lights on inside their house so they must be home." Norman said.

"That doesn't matter, if the lights are off you don't go up to the door." Dylan said then Norman listened and started leaving the yard with him while Alex stood staring at the home.

"Something wrong?" Norma asked, noticing him looking.

"That's Cassandra Jacobson's house, Riley's mother." Alex explained.

"The boy who went missing?" Dylan asked and Alex nodded.

"How could someone that lived here go missing? In all the shows the houses never look like this when a kid goes missing, this house looks like one from a happy movie." Norman said, looking over the home.

"Things like that can happen anywhere, that's why we always have to be careful." Norma told him.

"But if she's home why isn't her lights on, wouldn't she like to see kids now that she can't see her own?" Norman asked.

"It's too sad for her." Alex said. "This house used to be the most decked out one in the entire neighborhood, when Riley's mom was at the station early this week she was telling us how he loved Halloween so much and he would help them decorate the whole place. And she said when he was a kid he would go trick or treating then afterwards when he got home he would pick out every Reese's cup he got and give them to his mom because they were her favorite."

Dylan looked over at the house they stood in front of, a shadow passing the curtain of a mother who hadn't seen her child in months. He looked down into his bag and grabbed out a piece of candy, holding it up to show them. "I think we should go up to the door and give her a Reese's, I know it won't be the same as getting them from her son but if it could help her feel better for one night we should at least try."

"I know I got a few too." Norman said and dug through his bag.

Norma stared over at them, in that moment she understood exactly what Alex had meant when he said he saw the good in them, she smiled widely then put her hands on each of their backs. "Let's go give it a try." She said then they walked up the driveway, Alex followed right behind them then stepped up beside them when they rung the doorbell so he could tell her what was going on. A few seconds later the door opened and the woman looked down at the boys, smiling sadly.

"I'm so sorry guys but I don't have any candy to give out this year." Cassandra said sweetly.

"They aren't here for candy, I told them about you and Riley's history with Halloween and they wanted to come see if they could make you feel a little better." Alex explained then both boys held out a few Reese's cups they had found in their bags.

"We heard they were your favorite." Norman said.

Cassandra teared up the very instant she realized what they were doing and if she hadn't leaned down and gave them a hug they would have worried that it was a bad idea. "Thank you, thank you so much." She said then she pulled away and they handed her the candies, she shoved them in her house coat pockets then leaned back down again. "Promise me that you two will never change, we need more kids like you in this world."

"I promise." Norman said quickly.

Dylan smiled at her. "I promise." He said then she gave them another quick hug, when she stood up they all gave her a smile before stepping off the porch.

"Hey miss." Cassandra called out as they were walking away and Norma turned back and walked toward her. "I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

"Norma."

"Thank you, Norma." She said with a tearful smile.

"It was all their idea."

"Well then you've done a great job with them." Cassandra said and Norma smiled. "Have a nice night."

"You too." Norma said then she caught up with the boys again, stopping them at the end of the driveway and pulling them both into a long hug. They held on tightly to her, even Dylan who would have normally made a joke and wiggled his way out of her grasp already. "I love you both so much."

"I love you too, mother." Norman said.

"I love you too, mom." Dylan said then she finally let go of them, wiping a few tears from her eyes.

"Alright, enough of the mushy feely stuff, we still have a lot of houses left to hit." Norma said with a smile. Alex reached over and took her hand as they continued on, holding it tightly while they walked the rest of the time. It took them a little over an hour to get the rest of the homes they hadn't been to then another twenty minutes to walk back to Alex's house, all of them feeling relief as they reached his driveway. Most the time the boys would come straight home from trick or treating and pour out all their candy to see what they got but after the long night they had their heads barely hit their pillows and they were out cold. Norma used the downstairs bathroom and got herself ready for bed and once she came back out Alex had already gone upstairs, she wanted to thank him before he went to bed so she headed up there and went into his room. When she opened the door he was standing by the end of his bed changing out of his clothes and he looked over at her walking inside.

"Still haven't learned how to be properly invited in to my room?" Alex said, pulling his shirt off and tossing it into the hamper he now had in the corner of his room.

"I figured since I've seen every part of you it doesn't matter if I barge in anymore." Norma said, walking over next to him. "I wanted to come up here at thank you for tonight, I can tell the boys had a great time going with you."

"It was fun, a little tiring but Norman promised me some snickers so it was all worth it." Alex said then he stepped closer to her, grabbing one of her hands and running his fingers across it. "Thank you for inviting me, it made me remember why I used to love this holiday."

"The free snickers?"

"That, and the joy that all those kids have. Life isn't simple but for one night they can run around, dressed like ridiculous video game characters and just be happy."

"You did know what Mario and Luigi were."

"I told Chole what they were going as that and after the amount of awes that came out of her mouth I assumed that's what they were." Alex said then he ran both his hands up her arms slowly, resting them on the side of her arms then pulling her toward him into a kiss. It was soft at first but didn't stay that way long then he walked her backwards to the bed, laying her down without disconnecting his lips from hers. His hands moved back down her arms and to the ties on her nightgown, when he started to untie it Norma stopped kissing and turned her head away from him. "What's wrong?" He asked, remaining completely still till he could know why she stopped.

"I don't feel comfortable doing this while they are right downstairs." She said, looking worried at how he would react.

"Okay." Alex said and fixed the tie he had started to undo then sat up on the end of the bed.

"Okay?" Norma asked, sitting up with him.

"Yeah, I understand. We don't have to do anything while they are in the house."

"How can you handle all this so well?"

"Not having sex? I had years of practice." Alex said and Norma chuckled.

"No, dating a mother. I cancel dates last minute, most the time we see each other we aren't alone so we don't get much time to ourselves and even when we are alone like right now we can't do anything."

"I don't mind it, I knew from the beginning your sons will always be the first priority, as they should be."

"You don't think you are going to start resenting them because of that?"

"I could never." Alex said, setting his hand on her back. "I don't just spend time with them so I can be with you, although it's definitely a perk. They are a couple of great kids and I enjoy hanging out with them. And I like doing things like we did tonight, I was amazed by how they treated Cassandra. I have never seen any kid like them before and that's all your doing."

"You're amazing, you know that right?"

"I know." Alex said then she playfully shoved him away, he smiled at her then leaned in and gave her a few quick kisses. "Alright, now get out of my bed."

"Night, Alex." She said, giving him another kiss before standing up and walking toward his door.

"Night, Norma." Alex said then watched as she left. Once she shut the door he laid back on his bed, thinking back to where they were a couple weeks ago and were their were now. He had never fallen this hard for someone in his entire life, and certainly not in that short of time. If he already cared about these three people who were strangers to him mere months ago he could only imagined what they were going to do to his life from this point on.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: I know I've brought this up before but I am always blown away by everyone's feedback for this story and how understanding you all are of the writing choices I make. When I read back my writing I think of it like hearing my own voice on a recording and I get so worried before I post every chapter about whether it's good enough or what things don't feel as authentic as it should but you take away my doubts every time. A few things I wanted to address from the comments on the last chapter, first of all I'm not a genius at all but thank you for thinking that. I'm really just a person who watches way too much television and needs an outlet to keep the characters going in my head. Second, I love that someone noticed how Alex's humor is shown better in this because in the show I was so happy to see him come out of his shell around Norma and it is really what made me cares so much about his character. And lastly about smut, although I don't feel uncomfortable writing it it's just not something I care enough about doing anymore so it won't be seen in this story, not to say I won't ever do it again but for now it's on hold. As for this chapter back when I wrote it the plan was to make it into two chapter then in my lazy fashion I never added more filler to it, now it's just one giant scrabble put together. Alright that is all for now so please let me know what you think and enjoy!

It had gotten to that point in the year where holidays started coming one after another, it had felt like they just had Halloween and now there were having Thanksgiving next week already. To Norma holidays were just another reminder of her awful childhood, she could remember so clearly those moment as a kid when school would start back up after the breaks and all her friends would share stories of spending time with their families. What gifts the grandparents had brought them or where they had traveled. When her friends were finished they would ask her what she had done, she found it easier to lie. She would go on and on about how perfect the occasion had been, how she would help her mother cook until the parade started then her dad and brother would let her change the channel to it even if they had to miss the football game just because they knew how much she loved it and afterwards they would all sit down and enjoy a nice dinner together. Truthfully they didn't even own a television and they were lucky if there was even food in the fridge for them to make a sandwich with, most years her parents hadn't even realized it was a holiday. This year felt different though, they already managed to have an amazing Halloween and she decided to make the best of Thanksgiving now that they were free of all of their past drama.

"I'm gonna ask Maggie if we can use her house to cook our Thanksgiving dinner, I don't think she's got any family planning on coming so she might enjoy a big meal with us." Norma said to her boys while they all sat in the motel room, they were both working on homework and she was making her shopping list.

"Couldn't we just do it at Alex's house?" Dylan asked, setting his book down and turning toward her.

"I'm not sure what Alex's plans are."

"You could ask him, we see him practically everyday."

"I don't know if it would be appropriate to ask, we've only been dating for a month and a half."

"We spent Halloween with him." Norman chimed in, still very fond of their outing with him.

"Yeah, and you were together for like two weeks at that point." Dylan pointed out.

"Halloween is different, that's mostly a holiday for kids. Thanksgiving is a time you are supposed to spend with your family, it might be strange if we had it together."

"But Alex is kinda like family, and I don't think he has anyone left to spend it with." Dylan said then she was about to speak again when her phone started to ring.

Norma grabbed her phone and read the caller ID. "It's the realtor." She told them then walked outside to answer it.

As quickly as she had thought of her plans they were gone, she spoke with the realtor helping her sell their house in Arizona and she had found a buyer which was great news but the family wanted to be moved in before their children went on winter break.

"Did they offer enough?" Alex asked, sitting at his kitchen island while Norma prepared a dinner for them and the boys. It was their date night with the kids, even though they both enjoyed their alone time they made sure to include her sons too.

"Yeah, they barely went below asking price." Norma said grumply as she set the pan of meatloaf in the oven.

"Most people would be happy about that." Alex said, noticing her bad mood.

"I am, but that means I have to go out there and pack everything up to have it sent here."

"Couldn't you just have someone do that for you?"

"If I wanted to pay someone a bunch of money to go through all my personal stuff I could."

"Are you upset you have to see your house again?"

"No, that really isn't bugging me much."

"Then what is?"

"I don't want them missing anymore school so the only time we can go is over Thanksgiving break and I had this idea for a nice dinner together, we never really had one before."

"You didn't do Thanksgiving dinners?" Alex asked, surprised.

"We did them, just not nice ones. I'd spend hours cooking while Sam went to the bar with a group of his younger coworkers to watch the game, most the time he didn't even make it back in time then he would just barge in and join us. If we were lucky he ate without paying any attention to us, other times he would start fights with me then Dylan would leave the table and eat in his room and Norman would sit crying over his plate of food. I wanted to give them a better memory this time around, it's our first Thanksgiving here and I thought it would be different."

"When are you leaving?"

"I was thinking Wednesday morning, that's the first day they are off school. I'm just hoping we have enough time to get everything done, six days barely seemed like enough and now the boys are insisting we drive since they watched La Bamba on television the other day and they are refusing to fly on a plane. I'm just not sure how I'm going to finish, I have to pack, clean and do all the yard work that's been neglected all this time cause god knows Sam didn't do any of that once we left."

"How about I come with and help?" Alex suggested.

"You have work."

"I'll take a few days off, Oliver has been telling me to use my vacation time for months now."

"It's not going to be like a vacation, there is so much to do in so little time."

"I don't mind, I like doing stuff."

"What about Chevy?" Norma said, gesturing at the dog sleeping on the kitchen floor. "You can't leave him here all by himself."

"I'll get my neighbor to watch him, they've offered before."

"We haven't been dating that long, isn't it strange to be going on a trip together already?" Norma asked, thinking how she was worried that asking him to have Thanksgiving together would spook him and here he was offering to travel across the country with them.

"Nothing about our relationship has been normal, we already lived together."

"That was different, you were a friend helping another friend out."

"You are still my friend, no matter what we are I'm always going to want to help you." Alex said then Norma remained silent, unsure of what to say to his offer. "And we can take my SUV so there's more room, and instead of paying to ship all your stuff back here we can pull a trailer. We can also switch off driving so we get there quicker."

Norma looked at him and smiled. "Okay, if you really want to." She said then their conversation was stopped by the sound of the boys fighting outside.

"You missed the plate by like five feet, you are out." Dylan yelled.

"It's not a plate, it's a piece of cardboard and it keeps blowing further away." Norman shouted back.

"You use that excuse every time I tap you out, the thing hasn't moved once."

Alex looked over at Norma and they both chuckled at the boys bickering. "I'll go handle it." He said then stood up from the bar stool and went outside. Norma watched out the kitchen window as the walked over to them and found a way to settle it before joining them in their game of baseball. She smiled to herself at the sight of him with her sons, he was always so good with them. She hoped that would never change, as much as she believed Alex was different there was no way of knowing if he would always be that way. She ignored the thought and went back to cooking dinner. Alex had just offered something extremely gracious after all, it was no time to doubt him about anything.

The next week they left Oregon Wednesday morning like Norma had planned, figuring it would have been too tiring to leave right when the boys got off school the day before after they had both finished full shifts at work. Leaving at seven am once they had all awoken, they would only stop for each meal and quick bathroom breaks. Alex and Norma agreed on five hour shifts, they were both awake for the first shifts then after dinner Norma slept while Alex drove. She woke up six hours later and complained that Alex was supposted to wake her to switch off drivers but he claimed he wasn't tired so he didn't mind driving more, yet as soon as they switched off he fell asleep.

Norma pulled off the highway onto her exit, taking the round as smoothly as possible not to wake the sleeping boys. Alex had noticed the slowing off the car and opened his eyes, looking out the window to make sure nothing was wrong. "Did you know you talk in your sleep?" She asked, glancing over at him quick.

"Anything interesting?" Alex asked, rubbing his tired eyes.

"You were mumbling most the time, but I think you thought you were on a game show."

"Really?"

"You kept yelling out ' _pick me, Bob!'_."

"Okay, you're screwing with me." Alex said, sitting up and setting the pillow he was using aside.

"Honestly you're a very quiet sleeper, I like that you don't snore."

"You do, very loudly."

"What? No I don't." Norma said then looked over at Alex who was smiling. "Now you are screwing with me."

Alex glanced out at the city streets they were now driving on. "So where are we anyways?"

"Scottsdale, Arizona."

"This is your town?" He asked, looking around at the businesses lit up by rows of street lights as they drove past. It looked nothing like White Pine Bay, he figured you could put his whole town where the strip mall sat. He really couldn't imagine Norma living here. With her style and the way she conducted herself he always thought of her as an old soul, but this place screamed otherwise.

"It was."

"I pictured something a lot different, I guess I didn't realize you came from a big city."

"Trust me, it was not my idea to make a home here. We used to live in this sweet little town about an hour west of here but Sam got a great job offer and dragged us out here. I was never fully comfortable here, not like I am in our town." Norma explained while she pulled into a downtown neighborhood, the houses weren't that great looking but in this kind of town a good home would have cost a fortune.

"We're here." Norma said as she pulled into the one home in the neighborhood with grass that would reach over your ankles. "Looks great, doesn't it." She joked while she turned off the car and unhooked her seatbelt.

"With a little work it will look better." Alex said, taking his own seatbelt off.

"We should make sure what condition the house is in before we bring the boys inside." Norma said, glancing back at the boys sleeping peacefully in the back seat.

"Will it be safe to leave them in the car? You know the neighborhood better than I do."

"It's a good neighborhood, we know everyone on the block." Norma said then turned and tapped on Dylans knee to wake him up. "Hey, we're gonna go in and check out the house, we will be back in a few minutes."

"Okay." Dylan said tiredly then fell back to sleep. Norma and Alex climbed out of the car and walked to the front door, she took out her copy of the house keys and unlocked it then they both entered. The instant she walked inside the feelings came rushing back to her, how hopeless she had always been and how much pain was caused in this so called home.

"You alright?" Alex said, placing his hand on her back.

Norma put on a fake smile and turned to him. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said then looked around more, the place was messy but nothing looked unsafe to her. She went into the boys old bedroom, the only room in the house that looked the same as when they had left it. She walked over to their dresser and pulled out a couple sets of sheets to remake the beds with then she went to where their nightlight was plugged into the wall and turned it on. When she walked out into the living room Alex was picking up random garbage and throwing it into an empty bag, the kitchen counter had been littered with old paper plates and food containers, probably left out because the contents of trash bin were climbing up the wall. "Alex, you don't have to do that now. It's five in the morning, we can do all this after we sleep a while longer."

"I only have a few things left to pick up." He said as he kept working, Norma walked over and grabbed the bag out of his hands and set it on the floor.

"Let's go get the boys then we can go to bed." She said then Alex nodded, walking over and washing his hands quick before they went back out to the car. Norma woke up Dylan and helped him carry in his bedding while Alex picked up Norman and carried him into the house, Norma pointed out which bed was his and Alex lied him down on it gently then covered him up better.

"This is weird being here." Dylan told Norma while she helped him set up his blanket and pillow.

"I know, but we won't be here long." Norma said, tucking him in. "Get some more sleep, it won't feel as strange in the morning." She said and he nodded, snuggling up to his pillow and falling back to sleep. Norma and Alex walked out of their room then back out to the car again to get their bags, they set most of it in the foyer then Norma carried her bag back to her bedroom. Alex followed behind her but stopped when he got to the door frame while she set her suitcase on the end of the bed. "We should get a few more hours of good sleep, we're gonna have a lot of work to do when we wake up." She said then looked over at Alex who was staying put outside the room, glancing around at the room she stood in.

"I hope you don't mind but I'm going to sleep on the couch, I don't like the idea of sleeping in this room."

"Yeah, I understand." Norma said. She hadn't thought about how awkward it would be for him to sleep in the bed she shared with her ex husband. "I'll get you some sheets, I packed extra since there probably isn't any clean ones here." She said then they walked back into the living room, she helped him pull out the sofa mattress and make the bed. "Okay, you're all set."

Alex walked over to her and put his hands on her waist. "I'll see you in a few hours."

"Good night." Norma said then he leaned in and gave her a few quick kisses.

"Night, Norma." He said, releasing her.

Norma went back to her room and got everything ready for bed, putting on her pajamas and a fresh change of sheets. She laid down on her old side of the bed like she always had in the past and it couldn't have felt more wrong, she shifted trying to get more comfortable but nothing she did helped. She thought maybe the mattress was just a lot worse than she remembered, but it couldn't have been that because the ones at the motel weren't all that great either. The room was almost pitch dark so it wasn't like the mess was keeping her awake. But then she noticed it, the scent of the room. It wasn't foul, just all too familiar. It was Sam's scent, a combination of booze and cologne. Sure the room would have his scent in it, he lived there too but when she was there it was mostly covered by the smell of her perfume and freshly cut flowers she'd keep on the dresser. All a sudden it became too much for her, she couldn't stand being in her room any longer and grabbed her blanket and pillow, walking back into the living room. She looked over at Alex who was on the far side of the mattress, already laying down covered in his blanket. She stepped next to the bed and set her pillow and blanket down lightly, climbing onto the bed next to him. Alex felt the pressure on the bed and sat up, looking behind him as she laid down.

"I can't sleep in there anymore." Norma told him simply then he nodded and laid on his back. She scooted over toward him, curling up in his side.

"Are Dylan and Norman going to be freaked out if they see us in the same bed together?" Alex asked.

"I think they will understand." Norma said then Alex wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer. She let her head rest on his shoulder and closed her eyes, all she could smell now was Alex's scent and that made her fall right to sleep.

In the morning Norma woke first, she got out of Alex's grasp without waking him then headed to the bathroom to shower. When she was almost finished she heard a light knock at the door and pulled her head away from the running faucet.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Can I come in?" Alex asked.

"I guess." Norma said then she listened as the door opened and closed. She moved the shower curtain and looked out at him. "You need something?"

"Yeah, I need to use the bathroom." Alex said, walking over to the toilet and opening the lid.

"Most couples wait a year or so to start using the bathroom in front of each other." Norma joked while he was going.

"Don't take it personally, I'll pee in front of anyone." Alex said then he finished and washed his hands, looking around after for something to dry them with. "Is there a hand towel in here anywhere?"

"They were dirty, I already put them in the hamper. You can dry them on my towel if you want." Norma said then Alex walked over to the towel she had hanging on the bar next to the shower, the back of the curtain happened to be folded some and he could see right into the shower. "You still tired?" She asked while he eyed her bare body.

"I'm wide awake now." Alex said then Norma looked back at him and laughed.

"Well if you're wide awake you can get started on cleaning." Norma said and used her hand to shoot water back at him.

"But I need a shower first." Alex said with a smirk.

"Lucky for you I'm done." Norma said then shut off the water. She reached out and took the towel he had been using and wrapped her hair in it then grabbed her bathrobe and put it on. "I'll bring you a towel and a change of clothes after I'm dressed." She said as she climbed out of the tub and left the bathroom.

By the time Alex was out of the shower Norma was finished getting ready, she asked if he would be okay watching the boys while she went and picked up some breakfast for them and he agreed. She went and ordered four combo breakfast meals from the one place in town that was open on the holiday then she headed back to the house, while she was walking inside with the bags her next door neighbor stared over at her.

"Norma, is that you?" She asked.

"It is." Norma said, walking over to her. The woman went straight into a hug and Norma returned it as much as she could with her hands full.

"How have you been?" She asked, pulling out of the hug.

"I've been pretty good. How are you, Trisha?"

"I'm great, all the kids are in school now so I've been working more hours." Trisha explained. "And what about you, are you back in town now?"

"I actually live in Oregon now. We are just here till Saturday to pack up the house and get it ready for the new buyers."

"Did Sam move out there with you too? I haven't seen him around in a while."

"We got divorced, I haven't spoken to him more than once since I left."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, you two always seemed so great together."

Norma let out a little chuckle. "It's okay, it was all for the better." She said and looked over at her house. "I should get inside, I got hungry boys waiting for some breakfast."

"If you get some time stop over later, my parents are only staying till six because they want to drive home tonight. You can come over after, Connor and Brent would be happy to see the boys again."

"We got a lot to get done, but I'll make sure they get over to see them." Norma told her then they said their goodbyes before she went into the house. While she was gone Alex had cleaned up the kitchen and dining room so they had somewhere to sit while they ate, and the boys already both had woken up and got ready. After breakfast Norma started on packing and the boys went outside to help Alex rake and clean up the yard, once they had that done he sent them inside to work on packing their room while he mowed. He hadn't been at it long when he noticed a woman walking up Norma's driveway, she gave him a smile and quick wave and he waved back. She walked onto the front porch and rung the doorbell, moments later Norma answered.

"I hope you don't mind me just stopping over like this but Trisha told me you were in town and I had to say hello." She yelled over the sound of the lawnmower.

"Of course, come on in Amanda. I'll warn you it's a bit of a mess right now, I've been packing stuff up all morning." Norma said, letting her inside and shutting the door behind her.

"Don't worry about it, you know my ex had five kids so nothing looks too messy to me anymore. Speaking of kids, are your little men around?"

"They are." Norma said and walked closer to their room. "Norman, Dylan, come out here a minute." She said then they walked out a few seconds later.

"My god, Dylan you've grown a foot since I saw you last."

"Only three inches." Dylan said with a shrug.

"I've grown too." Norman pointed out.

"Yes you have. Tell me what you have been up to, you start driving yet?" Amanda joked.

"No."

"Don't they offer driving classes at your high school?"

"I'm still in elementary school, Amanda." Norman said with a laugh.

"Oh that's right, I'm sorry you just looked so much older that I forgot you are only eight." Amanda said then looked over at Norma. "You helping your mom?"

"We are packing our room, if we get done before dinner we're gonna go hang out with Brent and Connor afterwards." Dylan told her.

"Well don't let me keep you, just make sure you come say bye to me before you leave again." Amanda said then they both went back to their room.

"I'm sorry we didn't say goodbye when we left, we had a lot going on and we kinda just needed to get out of here." Norma told her as they walked to the dining room table and sat down.

"I know better than anyone what you mean, I'm glad you finally left that bastard."

"You didn't tell Trisha about anything you knew?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. She always saw the good side of Sam, I never wanted her to worry."

"I would never let it out, we gotta stick together against crappy men."

"So you left Jonathan?"

"A couple months ago, it wasn't an easy thing but I've never been happier."

Norma smiled. "I know the feeling."

"Part of it has to do with my mancott."

"Your what?"

Amanda chuckled. "My boycott from men, I haven't dated anyone since Johnny and it has been the best two months I've ever had. No more drama, no more abuse, just me taking care of myself for once. Although I gotta say after seeing your maintenance man I'm rethinking the whole thing."

"Maintenance man?" Norma asked, confused.

"The gorgeous guy you have working on your yard, I swear I almost fainted watching him push that mower around." Amanda said and set her hand on Norma's wrist. "Have you seen his arms?"

"More than a few times." Norma said with a smirk. "That's my boyfriend, Alex."

"You're kidding?"

"Not at all."

"Way to go Norma, I know Sam wasn't terrible to look at but you sure did upgrade. How long has it been going on?"

"I met him the first day I got to my town, I was having car trouble and he helped me tow it to a shop."

"Oh, a knight in shining armor, go on."

"We kept getting thrown together and eventually became good friends, then about a month and a half ago we started dating."

"Wait, you left and met mister handsome like four months ago then waited that long to jump him?"

"I had a lot going on, I wasn't ready to get into another relationship right away."

"I understand that part completely but still, I applaud your willpower."

"There were definitely moments of weakness but I'm glad we got to know each other first."

"Is he a good guy?"

"He is, I've never met anyone like him."

"Dylan and Norman like him?"

"They love him, just last week they said he was like family. And he's great with them, we don't always get that much time together because of his work but he makes sure to spend time with them too."

"What does he do?"

"He's the sheriff's deputy in our town."

"Are you saying you get to see him in a uniform?" Amanda said with a fake gasp.

"Most days."

"Please tell me you have done some sexy role play."

"We haven't been dating that long."

"Not even just with the handcuffs?"

"You have a wild mind."

"You will soon enough, gotta keep your man entertained when he looks like that." Amanda said then the front door opened and they glanced over to see Alex coming inside. "Speak of the smoking hot devil." She whispered.

"You finished out there already?" Norma asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"No, I came in for some water." Alex said then went into the fridge and grabbed out a bottle, opening it and taking a sip.

"This is my old friend Amanda." Norma said then Alex wiped his hand off on his shirt and held it out for her to shake.

"Alex." He said as they shook.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Amanda said then smiled back at Norma.

"Likewise."

"Norma." Dylan said walking into the kitchen. "I'm all done but Norman is taking forever and he won't let me help him."

"I'll go talk to him." Norma said and got up from the table, walking to their room.

"You finished cutting the grass?" Dylan asked Alex.

"You and your mom must think I mow at warp speed." Alex said then Dylan peeked out the window at the half mowed yard.

"Can I help cut it?"

"Sure, go grab a scissors."

"I mean like with the lawnmower, you could teach me."

"I could, but it would cost a lot of money to ship my body back to Oregon after your mother kills me."

"She doesn't have to know, she's busy with Norman anyways."

"How about instead you go help your brother pack, I'm sure Norma has talked him into letting you by now." Alex said, putting his hands on Dylan's shoulders and turning him toward the hallway.

"Fine." Dylan said then left the room.

"He seems so much more grown up since I saw him last." Amanda said to Alex. "And it's nice that he dropped some of his attitude."

"He had a great deal of that when I first met him, but he was just a little misunderstood, he always meant well."

"Do you know about their past?"

"Yeah, I do."

"You should know it isn't an easy task to get him to like you, he never said more than a few words to Norma's ex."

"It wasn't easy to get him to say much to me in the beginning either, he needed time to get to know me first."

"Well he's smart and he examines people pretty closely so if you passed his test you must be a great guy." Amanda said and Alex smiled, she looked toward the hallway to make sure Norma wasn't near then looked back at him. "Norma is a very special person, she has helped me more than anyone had ever done before and she cares for people so much. She's one of a kind so I want you to promise me you will never hurt her, because you seem like a good enough guy but women like me and Norma know how quickly a good guy can change."

"I promise, I know there is no one else like her. I will never do anything to hurt her or those boys and I will never let anything bad happen to them again." Alex said then took another sip of his water before setting it on the counter. "I'm gonna get back outside, it was nice meeting you."

"You too, and thank you for looking out for them." Amanda said then he left.

The rest of the day Norma and Alex both spent working, their plan for dinner was some microwave food they brought with but Alex snuck away after he found out from one of the neighbors where the best chinese restaurant in town was and brought back a feast of it. He told Norma it probably wasn't the Thanksgiving dinner she imagined but she absolutely loved it. The boys had helped pack till dinner and afterwards they went over to the neighbors house to see their old friends, Trisha let Norma know they could stay over till ten. After they left them at the neighbors Alex brought what they already had packed outside and put it into the trailer, once he was done he went back inside and looked for Norma to see what she had for him to do next. He didn't see her out in the open areas of the house so he walked through the hallway and found her sitting on the floor of her room, placing male clothes into a box labeled 'donate'.

"That Sam's stuff?" Alex asked.

Norma hadn't noticed him come in and jumped a little, wiping some tears away from her face quick hoping he hadn't seen. "Ah yeah, I'm just boxing it up to get rid of."

"I see that." Alex said, walking in and sitting next to her. "You keep telling me you are fine being here but I can tell it's bothering you. Is it because of Sam?"

Norma picked up one of Sam's old tee shirts he had always wore and looked at it a moment before folding it and setting it in the box. "He didn't always act like a bad guy, I know he is one but at first he hid it well. Every time I went out today I heard so many people say sorry for your divorce, Sam was such a good guy, and that made me sick. He played them the same way he used to play me, he treated me like I was the only person in the world when we first met. I felt so unwanted by Dylan's father and Sam was always there for me and he treated Dylan like his own, buying him toys and taking care of him. He made me love him and then he stopped pretending, he didn't care about Dylan or even Norman for that matter and I was just an object for him, his own personal property. And I don't care about him anymore, I wasn't lying to you when I said I haven't loved him in a long time. But there is this part of me that will always go back to that feeling, like all I will ever be is an object."

"He was a complete idiot, because anyone that had you and took you for granted like that would have to be out of their minds. You are not a thing, you are a person and an extraordinary one at that. And I promise you that I am never going to change, I may not be the most cheery guy but I have never pretended to be anything other than the person I am when I'm with you." Alex said then she pulled him toward her and kissed him, it was hungry and passionate as if she were telling him how much what he said had meant to her. Alex pulled back a few inches, trying to catch his breath and Norma tried going in for more when he stopped her. "Norma, I don't think I can do this in here."

"Then we go in another room. You wanted to shower together earlier, we can do that." Norma said, kissing his neck.

"I was just joking around."

"Well I'm not now."

"The shower isn't much better, it's still the one you two shared."

"No it isn't, that one was." Norma said pointing to the door behind them.

Alex looked back at the cracked door and noticed it was in fact a bathroom. "You have more than one bathroom and you let me use that one while you were showering?"

"You didn't seem to mind."

Alex looked down the hallway at the other bathroom door. "He's never used that one?"

"I've never even used that one, it was the first time I was ever in that shower, and if I had known how much better their water pressure was I would have used it years ago." Norma said then Alex stood up and pulled her off the floor, kicking aside the box of Sam's stuff as they passed it.

Norma wasn't kidding when she said this trip was going to be a lot of work, it was now the last day before they were heading back to their town and they had just finished. The only things left in the house was what they were sleeping on, some food and drinks in the fridge they had leftover, and a box of cleaning supplies sitting on the counter. Both the boys had already gone to bed and Norma was doing some last minute things so they would be ready to leave right in the morning.

"Norma, come lay down already, you got everything." Alex said. He was sitting on his side of the bed relaxing like she told him they were going to do before she remembered a few more things to do and hopped up.

"Okay, I just had to finish cleaning the microwave plate." Norma said walking back into the room, on her way she tripped on a throw rug but regained her balance right away.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I didn't realize there was another rug here." Norma said, looking down at the thin rug that matched in color with the carpet.

"I vacuumed over it earlier, I would have reminded you about it but I assumed you knew it was there." Alex said then Norma kneeled down and lifted up the rug, revealing the large red stain underneath.

Norma puffed out a gust of air. "Should've figured he wouldn't clean it up."

"What is it?" Alex asked, scooting over to the end of the bed to look at it.

"The day we left here is still so clear in my head, I remember every moment of it like it was yesterday. Norman was helping me carry in the groceries, he's always been extremely helpful but that day he accidently dropped a few of the bags and a jar of spaghetti sauce broke open." Norma said, looking down at the stain. "And I didn't care, a spill is a spill and I would have been able to clean it up had Sam not came home so soon. He started yelling at me, like it was my fault, claiming I forced Norman to carry it in. To think it all started over a stupid spill, makes me think of that saying, 'don't cry over spilled milk'." She said with a chuckle. "I was worried that when I came back I was going to realize how much I missed living here but I am glad I'm leaving it, this place isn't a home to me anymore, being here the last few days has made that clear to me." Norma said then Alex stood up without a word and walked into the other room, she looked back at him wondering why he had just left then she saw him walking back with the box from the kitchen and a couple bottles of water. "What are you doing?" She asked as he kneeled down next to her, pulling out a scrub brush and some soaps.

"I'm gonna help you clean it up." Alex said and Norma chuckled.

"It's been there four months, there's no getting that out now, it's completely stained."

"Everything in life can be fixed, you just need someone willing to mend it." Alex said and held out the brush.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: For once my note is going to be pretty short, I know, shocker. I just wanna say the reviews on the last chapter warmed my heart, you have no idea how much it means to me that people still care about this story after all this time. Let me know what you think of this one and enjoy!

Norma now knew what home truly felt like, they had spent four days at the house she lived in for eight years yet she longed for her place back in White Pine bay the whole time. When they had gotten home three days ago all their moods were instantly lifted, it could have had something to do with being able to get out of that car but Norma had a feeling it was because they were finally home. And after all the work she had to do in Arizona her shifts seemed easier compared to it. It helped that the worry of dealing with it was over too, now she was rid of that place and in a few weeks she'd have a nice check to prove it.

"Norma." Maggie yelled to Norma from the office, Norma had been coming out of the room she was cleaning. "Can you come here a minute."

"Yeah." Norma said and left the cart by the next room she was going to clean then walked into the office.

"Can I ask you for a huge favor?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"I have an aunt down in Nevada and I was just on the phone with her doctors, they say she had to have an emergency surgery on her leg after a car accident."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."

"She doesn't have any kids of her own and I'm really the only family member left she's close with so I wanted to go out and take care of her. I was wondering if you could look after the motel while I was gone? There really aren't many reservations this week so it wouldn't be much more than what you are use to."

"Of course, I can handle everything here till you get back."

"Thank you so much. You are the only person I can really trust and I feel so much better knowing you will be the one doing this."

"Well I'll try and keep things in line while you're gone. When are you planning on leaving?"

"Now if you don't mind, I just have to pack then it's a four hour drive from here."

"I don't mind at all. And tell your aunt not to worry about you getting home, only worry about getting better." Norma said giving Maggie a hug.

Norma hurried to finish cleaning the room so she had time to complete the rest of the days work before suppertime. She was lucky enough to get it all done and called Alex to see if he'd like to stop over for dinner up at the house tonight, explaining to him what was all going on with Maggie.

"So you know her?" Norma asked Alex as the four of them sat at the dining table eating dinner.

"I met her a few times, she would come stay at the motel when Maggie and Keith were kids. When she was here was the only time those two were properly cared for, she's their moms sister and she didn't want her to know how things really happened behind closed doors." Alex explained.

"She didn't know how they treated them?"

"I always got the feeling she knew, she showed up as much as she could. She got a couple weeks off a year and she would find weekends to drive out here, usually around their birthdays so she could bring them gifts."

"I'm glad Maggie stayed close with her, it helps to have someone in your life like that." Norma said, smiling over at Alex.

"So well Maggie's gone could I do the inventory?" Dylan asked. "Like the parts she would normally do with taking down all the numbers and figuring out how much stock we need."

"It's not that easy of a job." Norma said, surprised he had offered.

"I know, but I saw how she does it and I'm pretty sure I could handle it."

"You can definitely give it a try, it would save me a lot of time too."

"Do I still get to help count them?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, as long as you don't take too long." Dylan said.

"I won't." Norman said then he set his fork down on the table. "Can I be finished, mother?"

"You barely ate anything." Norma said, looking at his plate.

"I'm not very hungry."

"You feeling okay?"

"My stomach hurts a little." Norman said and Norma reached over and felt his forehead.

"You are a little warm. How long has it been hurting?"

"On and off today."

"You want me to make you something different to eat, maybe some soup?"

"No, can I just go lay on the couch and watch tv?"

"Yeah, yell for me if you need anything." Norma said then Norman got up and left the kitchen.

"He's probably getting that flu from Emma, she's been out of school all week." Dylan said.

"All week for a flu, it must be a bad one."

"I ran into Will outside on the way to my bus, he was picking up her homework from the elementary and he said they keep her out longer to make sure she's okay afterwards. I guess being sick is really hard on her."

"I didn't even think about that." Norma said, getting up from her chair and grabbing out a few things from the cupboards.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked.

"I'm going to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup, I want to bring some to Emma's house tonight in case she wants it for dinner tomorrow. And I'll have some for Norman later when he's hungry."

"But you're in the middle of dinner right now."

"I'll finish it as I go." Norma said, pulling out some chicken breast from the freezer and setting it in the sink to thaw.

"I'd leave it be." Dylan whispered, looking back at Norma who had started cutting up the vegetables already. "She's on a mission, there is no stopping her now."

"Should I offer to help or keep eating?" Alex whispered back.

"You could try, but it might not be safe approaching her while she has a knife." Dylan joked and they both chuckled.

"What are you two giggling about?" Norma asked, looking back at them.

"We are men, we don't giggle." Dylan defended.

"You're twelve, you giggle."

"You did giggle." Alex said.

"Hey, us guys are supposed to stick together." Dylan said.

"Once you're my age you will learn to agree with whatever women say, whether they are wrong or not."

"I'm never wrong." Norma stated.

"You're right, I'm sorry." Alex said and leaned in toward Dylan. "See?"

Norma noticed and took a piece of the carrot she was now cutting up and threw it at him, hitting him right in the side of the face. "Now hurry up and finish eating so you both can help me."

When they were done with dinner the three of them worked together to get the chicken soup made as quickly as possible. Norma knew Alex had an early morning tomorrow and even though she told him he could go home and let them finish he insisted on staying. She had noticed since they were back from the trip he found as much time as he could to come over and see all of them despite the fact that they hadn't been able to be alone together yet. It was nice having him around more, and the boys enjoyed having a man there who was actually interested in being apart of their lives. After they finished the soup he even stayed with Norman so her and Dylan could drop it off, and when they got home he checked to make sure they didn't need anything before leaving.

"Wait up Alex." Norma said, catching up to him outside the front door.

"Yeah?" Alex asked, turning back around and walking up the few steps he had already taken.

"I just wanted to say goodbye to you."

"You said bye when I was inside."

"I meant a proper goodbye, without two kids present."

"Okay, but someone might drive by and see us out here." Alex joked, knowing she only meant a kiss.

"You're funny." Norma said, letting him wrap his arms around her. He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips, pulling back a few inches afterwards. "Goodnight, Alex."

"Goodnight." He said, giving her another quick kiss before leaving.

Alex pulled up at the motel the next day, he had gone into work at four am and just got done with an eight hour shift. He had one thing on his mind, maybe a little crude but he wanted his girlfriend. He wasn't even sure what brought it on, he was driving home and his thoughts drifted to Norma. Stepping out of his car he looked at his watch, it was a little past noon so she would be in one of the rooms doing her housekeeping, his hopes was that it was an empty room and not one guests were staying in. He noticed immediately the open curtains through the window in room two, smiling when he saw Norma walk by it. He walked over to the partly open door and creaked it the rest of the way causing her to turn and look at him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Norma asked, setting the pillows back on the bed.

"This room reserved?"

"No, why? Are you trying to get a room?" Norma asked then Alex shut the door behind him.

"Maybe, do you have an hourly rate?" Alex asked as he closed the curtains, never looking away from her.

"We're not that kind of establishment, deputy." Norma said when he came up behind her and started kissing her neck.

"Fine, I'll take the whole day then."

"Alex, I just put down clean sheets, I don't want to have to make this bed again."

"I will clean every single room you have left."

"You just got off work, you aren't even going to be able to walk afterwards." Norma said then Alex turned her around and placed both his hands on her face, pulling her into a kiss. "Fine, you win." She said when they finally did pull apart, he smiled at his victory then leaned her back onto the bed and laid on top of her lightly. He went to kiss her again and just as he did her phone started to ring, his head fell to her shoulder and he let out a moan.

"What idiot invented the phone?" Alex asked as Norma pushed him aside and grabbed the cellphone out of her blouse, looking at the caller ID.

"It's Norman's school." Norma said and they both sat up quick as she answered. "Hello? Yes, this is her." She said, looking over at Alex while they spoke to her.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

"He's sick." Norma whispered then she went back to talking to them. "Okay, I will be right there. Thank you." She said then hung up the phone. "He said he felt fine this morning but they told me he went to the nurses office complaining of a stomach ache and he threw up, they want me to come pick him up." She said then climbed off the bed, stopping when she came to a realization. "Wait, I can't pick him up, I'm the only one here working."

"I'll pick him up."

"Would you?" Norma asked, gratefully.

"Of course. And he can come hang out at my place, I can look after him till you're done working."

"Do you know how to take care of a sick kid?"

"Yeah, I just stick him in a hazmat suit and feed him chicken soup through tubes."

"Alex."

"I won't kill him if that's what you are worried about. I'll make sure he stays hydrated and we'll kick back and watch some movies."

"Thank you. I'll call his school back and let him know you will be the one picking him up." Norma said, pulling her phone back out as Alex started to leave. "Oh and stop up at the house on your way out, the leftover soups in the container with the green lid."

"Got it." Alex said, leaving the room.

Alex went up to the house and got the chicken soup, a pack of crackers and some of Norman's juice boxes then bagged them up to bring with to his place. He drove over to the elementary school and found his way to the nurses office where Norman was sleeping on one of the cots.

"He's been out cold since the second his head hit the pillow." The nurse told Alex.

"Norman." Alex said, leaning down and rubbing his back to wake him up.

Norman opened his eyes slowly and looked up at him. "Alex? Where's my mother?"

"She's working, we're going to go hang out at my place if you want."

"Okay." Norman agreed tiredly, holding out his arms for Alex to pick him up. He wasn't expecting him to actually want to be carried by him, he had done it to bring him to his bed several times after he was already asleep but he doubted Norman had any memory of it.

Alex let Norman wrap his arms around his neck and grabbed the backs of his legs to lift him up into his arms, picking up the backpack sitting on the chair beside him and throwing it over his own shoulder. "You aren't going to throw up on me, are you?"

"No." Norman said then he carried him out of the room and to his car, getting him secure in the backseat and giving him a bag in case he got sick again.

When the two of them got back to Alex's house he brought Norman into the den and put him on the couch, helping him take off his shoes and sweater. He left him sleep and went into the living room, reading quietly so he could get his rest. About an hour later Norman walked out and sat on the couch next to him.

"How are you feeling?" Alex asked, closing his book and setting it on the coffee table.

"Much better."

"Are you hungry? I got some of that soup your mom made yesterday."

"Yeah, I could eat." Norman said then Alex reached over and grabbed the television remote, setting it on the cushion next to Norman.

"Best part of staying home sick, you get to sit around and watch tv all day." Alex said and Norman smiled, picking up the remote and turning it on.

Alex got up and went to make him his soup, whipping up a sandwich from himself since he didn't have much else easy to make. After they ate they sat back and watched a few programs on the television, Norman livening up more and more through each one. Not too long into their third show Alex got a call from Oliver, he asked if he could come into the station for a minute because he forgot to have him sign one of their reports before he left. Alex checked with Norman to see if he was up for it and he said yes, happy to get to go with him to his work. They arrived at the station a few minutes later, walking up to the glass where Chloe buzzed them inside.

"Hey Norman, you coming to apply for a job?" Chloe asked, smiling over at him.

"Don't even joke about that, Norma would kill me if he started talking about being a cop one day." Alex said.

"I don't want to be a cop, I wanna be a vet." Norman told her.

"Oh cool, you like animals?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, I want to get a dog but my mom said we can't have one at the motel."

"You got Chevy to play with though." Alex said.

"Yeah, he's my favorite." Norman said with a smile.

"You want to wait out here while I go sign that report?" Alex asked.

"Can I get some Cheez It's from the vending machine?"

"Yeah." Alex said, pulling out a couple bucks and handing it to him. "I'll be right back." He said then went into Oliver's office.

Norman walked out into the hallway and over to the vending machine, entering the number for his treat and inserting the money. It dropped into the bottom and he reached in and grabbed it out, turning to walk back to the other room when a man sitting on the bench spoke to him.

"Hey kid." He said and Norman stopped, looking back at the man who had his hands wrapped in a coat that laid across his lap and a leg bandaged up. "Would you mind grabbing me a scissors? I need to cut off a tag on my coat but I'm having trouble walking on my sore leg."

"Okay." Norman said, walking into the other room and over to Chloe. "Do you have a scissors?"

She looked at his bag of crackers and nodded, taking the scissors out of her desk and handing them to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks." He said then walked back out to the man, holding it out to him.

"Oh, you can just set it down next to me." He said and Norman placed it on the bench beside him. "Thanks kid."

"You're welcome." Norman said then he walked back into the other room and sat down on one of the desk chairs, ripping open his snack bag by hand.

Chloe laughed looking over at him. "Didn't I give you a scissors to open that with?"

"No, I gave them to the man who needed them."

"What man?"

"The man with the hurt leg, he asked me if I could get them for him."

"The man with the hurt leg?" Chloe asked, thinking a moment. "Do you mean-"

"He means me." The man said, walking into the room with his cuffed hands over one of their officers shoulders, the scissors placed against his neck. "I gotta say I don't like kids but they do come in handy every now and then."

"You lied to me, you said you needed it for the tag on your coat!" Norman said.

"Everyone lies kid, you better get used to it."

"What do you want?" Chloe asked.

"A lot of things sugar, but let's start with a ride out of here and a nice hostage."

"You already have me, you don't need anyone else." The officer said, pulling himself as far away from the blade as he'd let him.

"Now don't go getting jealous on me, I just need one of them to up the ante. Think about it, I have two fantastic options." The man said, turning the officer toward Norman. "Cute little boy with a heart of gold." He said then turned him to face Chloe. "Or a nice piece of arm candy. I mean how do you choose with choices like this?"

"There's always a third option." Chloe said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, and what's that sweetheart?"

"My boss is a pretty good looking guy." Chloe said then the man heard a gun cock behind him.

"I know you aren't a very smart man but what do you think is faster, a bullet from my gun entering your skull or you doing any damage with that dull little scissors of yours?" Alex asked, pressing the tip of the gun to his head.

Knowing there was no way out of it now the man loosened his grip on the officer and let the pair of scissors fall to the ground, the officer tossed the mans arms off of him then turned him around and shoved him back into the other room.

Alex put his gun back in it's holster and reached down to grab Norman's hand. "Come on Norman, let's go bring you back to your mom." He said then he held onto him as they left the station.

He drove them over to the motel, Norman checked with him a few different times to make sure he wasn't mad at him for giving the man a weapon but he assured him he was not mad and that he was just happy he was okay. When they got there they looked around for Norma and Dylan, finally finding them up at the house making supper.

"Hey, I called you twenty minutes ago to tell you I was done working." Norma said as soon as they walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry I couldn't answer, I was busy." Alex told her.

"We were apart of a hostage situation." Norman said casually.

"What?" Norma asked with a laugh, assuming they had played some new game together.

"It wasn't a hostage situation." Alex said, feeling that was too strong of a term for what happened.

"That's what they call it on tv when someone tries to kidnap people in a prison escape, and the man said I was going to be his hostage."

"Wait, kidnap, prison escape. What are you guys talking about?"

Norman spoke again before Alex had the chance. "Alex took me to the station and this man tried to break out of jail, he was going to take me with him as a hostage."

"Are you serious?"

"Well he hadn't decided if he was going to take me or Chloe."

"Is this some joke you two came up with? Because it's not funny anymore."

"It's not." Alex said and Norma's gaze shot over to him. "I had to go to the station to sign something for Oliver, I left Norman out with Chloe and when I came back one of the men in our custody had a hold of an officer."

"Oh my god." Norma said, kneeling down next to Norman and looking him over. "What did he do, did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't touch me. Alex stopped him from hurting anyone." Norman said then she pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm okay mother, it wasn't even that scary." He said and Norma let go of him, looking over at Alex.

"Can I talk to you outside a minute?" She asked and he nodded. "Dylan watch the stove for me, if it starts making noise add more water to it."

"Got it." Dylan said then they started walking outside, hearing the last bit of Dylan asking Norman what all happened.

"Norma, I am so sorry, if I had known that was going to happen I never would have brought him." Alex said once they got to the porch, shutting the door behind him.

"And why did you bring him there? He is sick and you told me you were going to hang out at your place."

"Norman said he was feeling a lot better. And Oliver forgot to have me sign something important, it was only going to take me a minute to do."

"Yeah, a minute unless my son got put into a hostage situation while you were there."

"It- it wasn't a hostage situation. It was a couple minutes of one of my officers having a scissors blade to his neck, there never would have been hostages."

"How the hell did this happen anyways? Don't you keep track of your criminals there?"

"He was left alone for a few seconds and he was cuffed to a steel bench, Norman went out to get a snack from the vending machine and he started to talk to him."

"He talked to him? My son was chatting with him while you were where?"

"I was with Oliver, I told you that." Alex said, raising his voice.

"I'm a little shaken up right now so forgive me for not remembering every detail, and I'd rethink that tone if I were you." Norma said sternly.

"It's not as bad as it sounds."

"Okay, well you were explaining it so keep going. My son was talking to a potential kidnapper, go on."

"He asked Norman if he could get him a scissors-"

"Norman gave him the scissors?"

"Are you going to let me finish?" Alex spit out and Norma glared at him. "I'm sorry, this just would be easier if you let me tell you everything first."

"Won't happen again." Norma said coldly.

"The guy was hiding his cuffs with a coat. He told Norman his leg was too sore to walk and get one, he had it wrapped up from where he hurt it getting pulled off a fence while he was being arrested so Norman believed him. He went and got him a pair of them then left and sat with Chloe in the front office, by the time she figured out Norman gave them to him it was already too late, he had a hold of one of my officers and was demanding to be let go. I came out of Oliver's office once he had his back turned and pulled my gun on him, he willingly dropped it and that was the end of it."

"The end of it, what about now? What about how he is affected by it?"

"He said he was fine."

"You don't know him, he is not your son!" Norma yelled. "He is sensitive, things like this will haunt him for as long as he can remember."

"It's not like it's the worst thing he has ever seen, or are you forgetting when your ex tried to kidnap you all and shot me point blank?"

"I cannot believe you just said that to me." Norma said, fuming more than she had been. "I tried to leave and you wouldn't let me."

"So that's my fault too now? Because I didn't want you guys to have to keep running, in constant fear of him finding you? I must be a real prick for wanting to protect you."

"You know what, I think you should leave."

"You can't seriously be mad at me right now for something I had no way of knowing was going to happen."

"And yet I am."

"What was I supposed to do? Tie a rope between me and Norman so he wouldn't wander off on his own?"

"How about when you tell me you are taking my sick child to your house to watch movies you do that instead of dragging him to a police station to sign a damn form that should have been done already, then leave him alone with your doughy eyed assistant who willingly hands out sharp objects to an eight year old without any further questions."

"I told you I was sorry."

"Well that's comforting."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to say to you that you won't get pissed at me about."

"Don't say anything, just go, we are done talking about this." Norma said, turning toward the front door.

"So we leave it like this? No resolve, just done talking?"

"Yeah, that's how we're leaving it." She said then opened the door.

"Norma, come on." Alex said, stepping toward her.

"Goodbye, Alex." Norma said then walked inside the house, shutting the door behind her without another word.


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Apologies on the wait for this chapter, I'm out of town and the internet connection is worse than dial up. First I wanna say when I was proofreading these last few chapters I had forgotten how light and fluffy a lot of them had been, it won't always be like that obviously but even as the darker stuff comes about I tried my best to keep the tone of this story that same as it has been. I'm also glad you guys enjoyed the fight because back when I came up with these chapters I wanted a when it rains it pours kinda situation so I decided they had to have a fight. I went over a few different ideas of reasons why they argue and landed on what I feel is the most fitting one, something to do with her kids. So I'm happy you all felt that was true to their characters. Anyways I will have another author's note down at the end of this chapter because it contains spoilers, so for now enjoy!

Alex had a ton of fights when he was married, most of them were intentional on his part. He used them as a way to distance himself from his wife, the more he fought with her the more she pulled away from him till finally she up and left him. After that point in time Alex never stayed with a woman past the point of their first fight, when that happened he gladly took it as an out. His life was simpler that way, letting someone too close to you always complicated things. No woman was worth the trouble to him, not till Norma anyhow. With their amount of emotional baggage it was surprising to him they had gotten this far into their relationship without a blowout, and now where he would normally bail out he couldn't even fathom the thought. Although that really had nothing to do with how long they were together, he's sure he would have fought for her from the first second they kissed. He wasn't sure Norma felt the same way though since she had ignored every form of contact he tried to have with her the last couple days, when he called she would send it straight to voicemail and when he dropped by the motel she would claim she was too busy to talk. It was safe to say everyone at work knew something was up, where he had been more outgoing the last few months was now replaced with his old shield of armor and short temper.

"Stanley, if I wanted your life story I would have asked for it, you come in late one more time and it will be the last time." Alex said sternly.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, it won't happen again." Stanley said, walking away with a similar expression as a puppy who just got scolded with a newspaper.

"Geez Alex, he was helping his poor old grandmother move into a home." Chloe said from the desk next to him.

"I don't care about his excuses, it's his job to be here and if he wasn't he clearly was doing it wrong. And stop calling me Alex, I am your boss not your locker room buddy."

"Well that's probably a good thing because they have pretty strict rules about men and women sharing locker rooms."

"Chloe." Alex warned.

"Oh, you get to use my first name."

"Does it seem like I am in the mood for your jokes?" Alex said, raising his voice at her.

"Alex." She said kindly. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Alex said and ignored her, turning back to his desk.

"You can talk to me about it, I'm not going to tell anybody."

"I don't want to talk about it with you. I don't want to talk about it with anybody, so will you just leave it alone?"

"Okay." Chloe said then went back to work.

At the motel Norma was working the front desk, Dylan and Norman where working on the inventory and she had to admit they were doing a great job at it so far. She also enjoyed this time alone since the two of them had been grilling her about Alex, asking when she was going to talk to him again, trying to get her to forgive him already. She wished she could, every part of her wanted to tell him everything was okay and go back to how they were before but she had to be stronger than that. All her life she was walked all over by the men around her, and she knew Alex cared for her deeply but if she let him back in again what kind of point would she be making? He put her son in danger then he insulted her, sure he probably didn't mean to do either and he was clearly sorry by the amount of missed calls on her phone but she needed him to learn that she was never going to be some doormat again. She heard the office door open and she looked up to see a man coming inside, he had a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and an outfit that didn't really fit in with the Oregon weather so she assumed he was coming from somewhere that was much colder this time of year.

"Hello, welcome to Seafairer." Norma said with a smile. "Can I get you a room?"

"No, that's not necessary." He said, tossing his bag on the floor. "Who are you?"

"I'm Norma Calhoun."

"You work here?"

"I hope so, otherwise I wasted my time cleaning all those rooms today." She said sarcastly and his expression remained the same.

"Where's Maggie?"

"And who's asking?" Norma said, taking the defensive side with this strange man.

"Keith." He said and Norma looked at him waiting for more of an explanation. "Summers.. Keith Summers, this is my families motel."

"Oh, you're her brother."

"Yes, so where is she?"

"She didn't tell you? She had to go out to Denver to help look after your aunt, she was in a car accident a few days ago."

"No, she didn't."

"Well I'm sorry I had to be the one to tell you, but I spoke with your sister this morning and she said she is doing a lot better."

"Good to hear." Keith said then the motel phone started to ring on the counter, she glanced over and looked at the caller ID then pressed ignore. "Aren't you paid to answer that when it rings?"

"It was just my boyfriend calling, he calls here when he can't get a hold of me on my cell." Norma said then Dylan and Norman walked out from the back room.

"Here's the inventory list." Dylan said, handing Norma the clipboard he was carrying.

"My sister hire them too?" Keith asked, looking past her at the boys.

Norma chuckled. "No, these are my sons. They're helping me out with a few things." She said then pointed at each of her sons while she talked. "This is Dylan and Norman, this is Maggie's brother Keith."

"Hi." Norman said, smiling at the man.

"Hey." Dylan said before turning back to Norma. "We going up to make dinner now?"

"Ah, we are going to have to change our plans for dinner tonight." Norma said then looked at Keith. "Maggie usually lets us cook in her kitchen but I don't wanna be in there bothering you."

"Are you staying in the house?"

"No, we stay in room four. Maggie let's us go up there whenever I'm making homemade meals, we could use a night out for dinner anyways though." Norma told him then he nodded and picked his bag back up, leaving the office without another word.

Later that night after dinner out the three of them went back to their motel room and Norma went to take a shower while Dylan and Norman watched a movie. Norman fell asleep not long into it and Dylan was left sitting alone watching the film, a few minutes later he heard a light knock at the door. He got up from his bed and stood up on his tippy toes to look out the peephole, when he saw a familiar face he opened the door.

"Hey." Dylan said, looking up at Alex.

"Hey Dylan, how have you been?" Alex asked and he shrugged back.

"Alright." Dylan said and looked back in the room toward the bathroom door then back to him. "She's in the shower."

"Oh, I'll just come back tomorrow then. You guys are probably going to bed soon." Alex said and turned to leave.

"Alex." Dylan said and he stopped, looking back at him. "Just give her a few days, when she gets upset she gets even more stubborn than usual. You have to give her a bit of time to calm down, she'll come around."

"Are you sure about that? She didn't act like she was going to be ready to forgive me anytime soon."

"Trust me. A few years ago I dug a hole in the backyard at the old house because I wanted to make a pool, I put the hose in it then went inside and fell asleep. I ruined all the grass, the backyard was muddy for weeks and our water bill that month was an extra forty dollars. She yelled at me and I hid out in my room, she forgave me two days later."

"I think this is different, I'm not her son."

"But you are the closest person to her aside from me and Norman, she will forgive you." Dylan said making Alex smile.

"I'll see you in a few days."

"Looking forward to it." Dylan said then he shut the door and Alex started to walk back to his car, stopping when he heard a voice.

"Alex Romero." Keith said, walking over to him with a beer in his hands.

"Keith, when did you get back to town?"

"This afternoon."

"You didn't want to go visit your aunt first?"

"Well since the first time I heard about her being hurt was from a stranger I didn't think I was wanted there."

"I'm sure Maggie just had trouble getting a hold of you, your number doesn't stay the same very long ever."

"Always ready to defend her, no wonder she falls all over you." Keith said then took a swig of his beer. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"I came to see Norma, she's the one covering the motel till Maggie gets back."

"I met her, a real spitfire that one." Keith said with a smirk.

"You stay away from her, you understand me?"

"Oh, I get it. You're the boyfriend she was talking about, guess that's why she looks so unsatisfied."

Alex took a step toward him and lowered his voice. "I'm warning you Summers, I hear one word about you messing with her and I will burn you to the ground."

"That threat of yours didn't scare me when we were kids and it's not gonna now." Keith said then took a step back. "Have a nice night." He said with a grin, turning his back to him and walking away.

Alex decided to take the advice Dylan gave him the night before, he had been at work all day and hadn't tried calling Norma once. He had no clue how to tell if it was working or not which actually bothered him more, but what he was doing before wasn't working so he was open to trying this approach. He had been out on a case earlier which helped a bit. Him and Oliver had checked out some trouble with missing items from the boats at the Marina, but that only kept their attention so long then he was right back at the station. It did nothing to lower his quick fused temper, all the officers who had finally stopped being afraid of him now crept past him quietly hoping not to draw any attention to themselves.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Alex asked Chloe, looking around the station.

"Hiding from you." She replied.

"That's great." Alex said, rifling through his desk frantically.

"Did you need something?"

"Yes, I'm out of incident report forms."

"I can get you some."

"I know where they are, I can get them myself since clearly my staff is cowering in the bathroom stalls instead of doing their jobs." Alex said then slammed his desk drawer shut harshly, catching his hand in it as it closed. "Son of a bitch." He said, covering his injured hand with the other.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked, hopping up from her chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alex said, pulling his other hand away to look at it.

"Oh my god, you're bleeding." Chloe said, looking down at his hand. It was covered in blood and she could already start to see the bruising underneath it. "I'm getting the first aid kit." She said and walked over to where they kept it in the office, bringing it back over and setting it on his desk then she pulled her chair over to his. "Sit."

"I'm okay, I can just go wash it in the sink."

"You need to wrap it or it's going to keep bleeding, just sit." She said and he sat down across from her.

Chloe reached over and opened up the kit, pulling out what she needed then turning back to him. "This might sting." She said then covered a piece of gauze with rubbing alcohol and started wiping away the blood. Alex looked down at his hand as she cleaned it, thinking back to how Norma had taken care of him after he was hurt. "Alex, are you okay?"

"Norma won't talk to me." Alex said, looking up at her.

"Why? What happened?"

"We got into a fight after I brought Norman with me to the station that day, she got upset that I put him in a situation where he could have gotten hurt."

"You didn't know that was going to happen, you two could have just as easily been anywhere else and had someone do something like that."

"I think it's probably more likely that a criminal would be at a police station opposed to the park or the store."

"You never know when bad things are going to happen, you got shot in your own backyard." Chloe said as she set a large piece of gauze on his hand and starting taping it.

"It doesn't matter, Norma isn't going to forgive me for it. I made a promise not to hurt her or her sons and I already messed it all up."

"It was not your fault, and if she can't see that then she doesn't deserve you." Chloe said, finishing tending to his hand and setting the tape back on his desk. "If things don't work out you will find somebody else."

"I won't find anyone else." Alex said, shaking his head and looking down.

"You will." She said then he saw her set her hand on his leg, when he stared up at her she leaned in and placed her lips on his.

Alex pulled back immediately, pushing his chair away from hers. "No, don't." He said sternly. "Don't ever do that again."

"I'm sorry." She said, her face red from their interaction.

"I- I need to go." Alex said, grabbing his coat off the rack and putting it on.

"Your shift isn't over yet."

"Tell Oliver I went home sick." He said, leaving the station quickly.

Norma finished up cleaning all the rooms, they'd only had a couple guests the last few days so they were a lot easier to get done than usual. While she had a free chunk of time she made herself some lunch and left a note of the office saying she would be back in twenty minutes then went back to her room. After she ate her sandwich she went into the bathroom and started washing her hands when there was a knock at the door, she started walking toward it when they knocked again.

"Just a second." She called out, she opened the door and looked at the man standing there.

"There was a guest complaining about trouble with their sink." Keith said. "I wanted to check how yours was working."

"There is nothing wrong with my sink."

"I fixed the other one but all of them are doing it, I'm thinking it's a problem with the plumbing, I should really check yours."

"I assure you it's working, I was just using it." Norma said then he decided to stop pretending and shoved his way into her room, slamming the door shut behind him. "What are you doing?" She asked then he ripped off a piece of duct tape from his belt and placed it over her mouth. She went to pull it off and he grabbed her hands, holding them in place. She struggled to get out of his grasp, swinging her body every which way while he backed her up to the bed and handcuffed her to the railing.

"You sleep in my motel, you cook in my house, you think you own this place now. Well I'll tell you something, everything here is mine." He said into her ear as he ripped off the panties from under her dress. All she could feel next was the pain. A pain she was familiar with, a pain she thought she would never have to feel again now that she had Alex. Seconds later there was a loud knock at the door that made him stop, he stood up and pulled up his pants.

"Norma, you in there?" Alex called from outside and knocked again. "Will you please just open up, I really need to talk to you."

Keith uncuffed Norma and pulled her off the bed and into the bathroom, he tossed her onto the floor and turned on the shower faucet before walking back over to her. "Keep quiet, I don't have any problem killing your boyfriend if I need to." He said then closed her in the bathroom.

"Norma, I can hear that you are in there. Please answer the door." Alex said then Keith opened the door. "Keith, what are you doing here?" Alex said, looking past him into the room. "Where's Norma?"

"She's in the shower, she asked me to come over and fix the bed. Her kids were rough housing on it this morning and a leg broke."

"And you were fixing it while she's in the shower?"

"She got in while I was fixing it, it was the only time I could do it today and she needed to get ready for something."

"Okay, thanks." Alex said then Keith walked past him and Alex went inside, shutting the door behind him. He looked around the room, the blankets and sheets on her bed were thrown all about which hardly seemed like something Norma would do. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on it lightly. "Norma, you almost done in there?" He asked and he heard what sounded like muffled cries from inside. "Norma? Norma, I'm coming in." He said and opened the door. His eyes quickly found hers, she was laying on the floor with her mouth still covered in the duct tape. He rushed over to her and kneeled down on the floor, holding the side of her face while he used his other hand to gently pull the tape off. "Norma, what happened?"

"He- he raped me." Norma managed to get out in between cries.

Alex's comforting face turned to pure angry then he stood up and rushed to the phone, he dialed 911 and set it back on the end table before walking back to the bathroom and lowering himself to her level again, placing his palms on each side of her face. "Stay right here, don't move till the police get here."

"Where are you going?" Norma asked, reaching up and grabbing his hands.

"Just stay here." Alex said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He released her hands and stood up, leaving the motel room and going straight to his car. Driving off he noticed tire marks going to the left and turned onto that side of the highway, he drove as fast as he could down the road till he noticed a truck up ahead. He slowed down his own car and followed behind it a good enough distance till he saw him pull off the highway onto a dirt road. The road thinned till the point where they were both driving on what looked to be a walking trail in the middle of the woods, he slowed to a stop when he saw him pull up to a small trailer. Alex threw his car in park and got out quietly, sneaking up to where Keith was getting out of his own car. By the time he reached his trailer Alex was right behind him, he stopped when he heard the sound of Alex's gun cocking behind his head. "Put your hands up and turn around you piece of shit."

Keith did as he said and put his hands in the air, turning around slowly to face him. "Go ahead, arrest me, I'll be out by tomorrow."

"For rape, I don't think so."

"Are you really still that naive about how this town is run? I'm one of the people who keep this place in order."

"Sex trafficking isn't part of keeping this town in order."

"So what are you waiting for? Arrest me." Keith said and held out his hands. Alex shoved his gun back in his holster and reached for his cuffs when he spoke again. "She liked it." He said with a smirk plastered across his face. Before Alex could really think about what he was doing he reached for Keith's belt and pulled off the xacto knife, opening it and slicing across his throat. Keith reached up and grabbed his neck with one hand and Alex's shirt with the other, ripping the pocket on it as he fell to the ground. Alex stared down at him, watching the blood pour out of him onto the patio bricks below them.

A/N #2: Quite awhile back a guest reviewer sweetly suggested I don't add Norma being raped into this story, I had already had this chapter written at the time and even if I hadn't I still would've continued with this storyline. I debated with myself when I was making this story about whether or not that was something I wanted to do then I thought about the scene in the show where Norma tells Alex she wishes she could erase all the bad things that happened, although that would be amazing to do that is not what reality is about and I wanted this story to be true to the series. I didn't want to erase all the bad things, I wanted her to experience them in a whole different light where she had this person who would stand by her through it all so that even the hard times wouldn't seem so bad. Another part I took a long time thinking about was how close would Alex be to the man we saw in the first season. I didn't want him to be a complete saint from the start but I also wanted him to gradually become closer to his character and not to give anything away but I'll soon explore how far he'll go now that he's got people in his life keeping him grounded. This chapter was really hard to proofread let alone write so I hope it's not too difficult for you all to read, let me know what you think.


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Thank you all for the positive feedback from the last update. It was the chapter in this story that I had felt most worried to post so I'm glad it didn't end up scaring everyone away. Let me know what you think of this one and enjoy!

Disposing of a body wasn't easy, Alex actually had to give serial killers credit for the work they had to do just to get rid of them. Keith was not a light guy to drag either, luckily his truck was only parked a few feet from where it had all went down so he didn't have to bring him far. He got him loaded into the bed of it and tied him up in traps and fishing gear that had been laying in it to way him down. The trailer looked out to White Pine Bay's largest lake, he could only imagine how many bodies had been dropped in it in the past never to be found again. He drove right up to the water and put the car in neutral, hopping out and going around to the back. He shoved the truck with all his strength and it sunk into the the waters, sliding further and further in till it disappeared completely from his sight. After staring at the still water a minute he turned around and walked back to the trailer, avoiding the blood that was still pooled out on the patio. There was no use in trying to clean it up, it would never come off the stone. And he hoped someone would find it eventually, Maggie would need to know her brother was gone and Norma could find comfort in the fact that her attacker wouldn't come back. He ripped part of his shirt sleeve off and used it to cover his hand while he opened the door. Going inside he found a lighter then headed back outside stopping at his car to grab out a spare tee shirt he had then walked over to the fire pit. He unbuttoned his bloody uniform shirt and lit the end of it before throwing it in then replaced it with his tee shirt. He grabbed a bottle of lighter fluid that was sitting on a tree stump and poured it onto the slow burning clothing then he tossed the empty container in the fire pit along with it. After every piece was destroyed he went back to his car and got out of there before anyone showed up.

His first stop was to the motel, it was on the way back and on the off chance she was still there he wanted to see her right away. He spoke with one of his officers who was there examining the crime scene, he was told she was taken to the hospital to do a rape kit so he drove straight there and went up to the front desk.

"What room did you take Norma Calhoun to?" Alex asked the woman who was sitting behind the desk.

"Are you her family member?" She asked then he pulled out his badge and held it up to her.

"Which room is she in?" He said then she looked in her files.

"One 'o two." She replied then he hurried down the hallway till he came up to her room and walked right inside.

Norma was talking to the doctor when she heard footsteps and looked over to see him entering her room. "Alex." She said then he walked over next to her bed and they pulled each other into a hug.

"I'm all done for now, I'll give you two a minute." The doctor said and walked out the door, as soon as he did Alex rested his forehead on hers and wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Norma." Alex said, finally letting himself lose it as he started to cry.

"It isn't your fault Alex, you're not the one who did this to me." Norma said, reaching up and holding onto his face the same way he had done to hers.

"I should have been there, I should have stopped him."

"He waited till I was alone, unless you were by me every waking hour of the day it still would have happened." Norma said and Alex remained silent. "Did you find Keith?"

Alex opened his eyes and looked into hers, shaking his head. "No, I couldn't find him."

"I hate him, I hate that he did this to me." Norma said as she started crying again, Alex laid on the edge of her bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Me too, and he's never going to lay another finger on you again." Alex said and she tucked her head into his shoulder. They stayed laying that way in silence till there was a knock at the door.

"Mind if I come in?" Oliver asked and Alex waved him in, getting up from the bed and standing next to her. "I'm sorry but I gotta ask you to explain to me everything that happened."

"Oliver, I can handle that." Alex said.

"You know as her boyfriend you can't, it's protocol."

"Alright." Alex said then turned to Norma. "I'll be right outside."

Norma reached over and grabbed Alex's hand to stop him then she looked at Oliver. "Can he stay in here while I talk to you?"

"Yeah." Oliver said then looked over at Alex. "He can stay if he wants to."

Alex nodded then sat back on the bed with Norma, keeping her hand intertwined with his the whole time. She explained in great details all the events that had happened, it pained Alex more than anything hearing what he had done to her but she needed him there and there was no way he was going to leave her side.

"Thank you Norma, I know it's a difficult thing to discuss so I appreciate you doing this." Oliver said, closing the notepad he had. "If you don't mind I'm gonna steal Alex a minute, we will be right outside the door so if you need anything you can yell for him."

"Okay." Norma said and let go of Alex's hand.

Alex got up and followed Oliver out of the room, closing the door most the way behind them. "What?"

"You didn't have any luck trailing that bastard?" Oliver asked.

"No." Alex said, shaking his head. "By the time I found Norma in the bathroom and made sure she was safe there he had already been gone."

"But you went looking for him?"

"Yeah, I couldn't tell which way he went so I took a right out of the motel driveway and drove up about twenty miles before heading back the other way, then another twenty in that direction. He would have been too far gone by that time and I wanted to see Norma, I had to give up on looking for him."

"Don't worry Alex, we are gonna find him." Oliver said, putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "We won't let him get away with this."

"Thank you." Alex said, trying his best not to break down again.

"You go take care of your girl, I'm going to handle this." Oliver said and Alex nodded, walking back into the room.

"I don't know what I'm going to tell Norman and Dylan." Norma said as soon as he was inside.

Alex looked at his watch and noticed the time, they had been out of school almost an hour now. "Where are they?"

"They both took the bus to Emma's after school. Will is in town and I spoke with him, he said he'd keep them there till later. I told him he could tell them I got hurt but that I'm okay and just leave it at that."

"Do you want them to know?" Alex said, pulling up a chair next to her bed.

"I don't. I don't want them to know what he did to me, but I also don't want them not to know. I don't want them to ever be in a position like mine where they don't know what to do, and I know they are boys and that is less likely but in any situation they need to be prepared. You were right when you said they have seen a lot of bad things, and sure they have reacted to them in the best way possible but who knows what they would do if someone tried to hurt them. I don't want them to be afraid of what can happen but I do want them ready if it does."

"Okay." Alex said and thought a moment. "How about we ease them into it? We start with saying he broke into your room and hurt you, we see how they take that then you can decide if you want to go any further into it."

"Alright, we can try that." Norma said then Alex reached over and took her hand.

"And I want you to move in with me." Alex said and she looked up at him. "For good this time, not just so I can protect you."

"Alex-" Norma stopped, not knowing what to say next.

"And I'm not just asking because of what happened, so please don't think that." Alex said and scooted closer to her. "These last few days when we weren't speaking were hell, I was completely lost without you and I have never felt that way before with anybody. I don't want there to be any less time that I can be with you, I want you to be there when I come home every night and I want you to be there when I wake up in the morning. And we can start with it being like when you stayed with me before, you can sleep in the den so it doesn't feel like things are changing too quickly."

"Yes." Norma said as soon as he stopped talking.

"Yes?" Alex asked, making sure that was what she said.

"Yes, I'll move in with you." Norma said and Alex leaned in and kissed her. "You know I have to bring Norman and Dylan with me too?" She said and he chuckled.

"Well I hope so, I want them there all the time too."

"Can we get out of here now? I wanna go get the boys."

"Yeah, let me check and make sure they don't need anything else before we go." Alex said then he got up and left the room.

After she was released they drove toward the motel, deciding it would be better to pick up their stuff first so the boys didn't have to go back there today. Alex pulled up into the driveway, looking over at the car parked next to them and nodding at the man who sat inside it.

"Do you know that guy?" Norma asked.

"That's Stanley, he's one of my officers." Alex said, taking his seatbelt off.

"What is he still doing here, didn't they already finish getting everything they needed?"

"Oliver called me while you were changing and said he was going to keep him posted here till later tonight in case Keith shows back up." Alex said then he looked over at room four. "You ready?"

Norma looked at the door and her heart started to race, she looked back at Alex and shook her head. "Do you mind going in without me?"

"Yeah, I can do that. What all do you want me to grab?"

"You can just throw together whatever for now, we'll need clothes and the boys would probably like some of their games."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Alex said then hopped out of the car, he walked around the back of it and over to Stanley's car knocking on the window so he would roll it down. "I'm gonna run into Norma's room and get some of her things, keep an eye on her while I'm in there."

"Yes, sir." Stanley said.

Alex went to walk away then turned back quick. "Stanley."

"Yes, sir?"

"It's okay that you were late the other day, keep taking care of that grandma of yours."

"Thank you, sir, I will." He said then Alex walked into her room, he left the door open some so he could listen to what was going on outside in case Norma thought of something else for him to grab or she needed him. She must have rolled down her window because he could hear her and Stanley were chatting up a storm as he gathered up some of their things. He made sure to get a few changes of clothes and pajamas for each of them, their shower items and games to keep them entertained with for the next few days till they were ready to come back and get the rest of the stuff. He loaded up his car with the things he had packed then him and Norma were on their way to Emma's house, Alex went up to the door to get them.

"Alex, where's my mom?" Dylan asked in a worried tone, tossing his backpack on his shoulder.

"She's in the car waiting for us."

"What happened to her?" Norman asked.

"We are going to talk about that when we get back to my place. She's okay though, she's going to be fine."

"Why are we going to your house? It's already late." Dylan asked.

"You are going to sleep there, we'll talk about all this more when we get there." Alex said then he thanked Will for looking after them and they all went out to the car. The ride back was only a couple minutes long but Norma could tell it was killing the boys not to ask questions, she knew Alex must have told them to leave it be for awhile. When they pulled up in his driveway Alex went to the trunk and pulled out a few of their bags, Dylan noticed and went around to help him.

"A lot of stuff for a sleepover." He joked, already figuring out that it was going to be more than a one night kind of thing. Alex ignored it and they carried it into the house, setting it down in the foyer.

"Let's go sit." Norma said then they all walked over to the dining room, Alex sat down in the chair next to Norma and held onto her hand under the table.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked, not wanting to wait any longer for the explanation to why they were acting so strange.

"Today I went back into our motel room during my lunch break, while I was in there Maggie's brother Keith came by. He tried lying to me to get inside but I didn't fall for it then he forced his way in and attacked me." Norma explained to them as well as she could, the look on their face the whole time was one the most heartbreaking parts of telling them.

"He hurt you, that's why you were at the hospital? Dylan asked.

"Yes, they had to double check and make sure I was okay. It could have been a lot worse but Alex showed up and helped me."

"Is he in jail now?" Norman asked.

"No, he got away."

"But we are going to find him, don't worry about that." Alex told them.

"Why did he break in and go after you?" Dylan asked. "Did he steal something?"

"He didn't take anything, he only wanted to hurt me."

"But why, why would he do that? He didn't even barely know you."

"Sometimes people do things that aren't right simply because they enjoy taking pleasure in someone else's pain, it's cruel but they just do."

"Where did he hurt you? Norman asked, looking at her to see if he could notice any harm.

"You can't see where he hurt me."

"You can show us, we won't be scared if it looks bad."

"Norman, sweetie, it's something I can't show you."

"Why not?" He asked and Norma exchanged glances with Alex.

Dylan watched them both looking at each other as if their expressions were trying to talk to one other, he knew enough to know what it meant when two adults would shy away from a certain topic. "Norman, drop it, okay?" He said and Norma looked over at him, they both knew now yet this is where the conversation was going to end for them.

"Okay." Norman said.

"I didn't really want to have to tell you this but I wanted you to use it as a lesson." Norma said. "I know that we are good friends with Maggie but don't ever think just cause someone knows your friend you are able to trust them automatically, until you know them well enough yourselves you are not to be alone with them."

"What about at school?" Norman asked.

"This is mostly for grown ups you will meet, you shouldn't have to worry too much about your classmates, at least not till high school. And this is a big one, if you two are ever alone and this includes when you are alone together you do not open the door for anyone. I don't care who it is, unless I say otherwise."

"Wait, we can't even open the door when Alex comes over?" Dylan asked.

"That's something else we need to talk to you about. Alex and I decided that the three of us are going to move in here." Norma said and their faces lit up for the first time during this conversation.

"We aren't going back to the motel?"

"I'll still be working there but as far as living goes we are going to be staying here."

"As long as it's okay with both of you, we don't want to make you uncomfortable in any way." Alex told them.

"I want to move in." Norman said, happily.

"I'm fine with it, it will be nice to get out of that room." Dylan said.

Norma smiled over at Alex. "Well it's starting to get late, why don't you two go find your pajamas and get ready for bed." She said and both the boys stood up, leaving the table.

"That went as well as it could have." Alex said.

"Dylan knows."

"Yeah, I know." Alex said, wrapping his arm around her back. "Do you want me to stay down here too tonight? I can sleep on the loveseat."

"You don't have to do that, I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"I got my boys." Norma said and they looked out into the other room at them, they had already gotten their pajamas out of the suitcase and Norman was sitting on the bag so Dylan could get it shut again.

"You're right, if I saw them I'd probably run in the other direction." Alex said and Norma chuckled.

"Don't worry, as long as you're in the house I'll always feel safe." Norma said then Alex leaned in slowly toward her and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"If you need anything come upstairs and get me."

"Okay." Norma said and he gave her another quick kiss.

"Good night, Norma." Alex said then stood up, he stopped and said night to the boys before heading upstairs to get ready for bed.

When the boys were done getting changed they started making the beds up while Norma went to take a quick shower. The downstairs bathroom had a large mirror above the countertop and Norma stopped in front of it to remove her clothes. When she lifted her top off the bruises on her hips caught her eye instantly, she had known they were sore from where he was holding her down at but she had avoided looking at them earlier when they took photos for the report. She traced her fingers over them lightly, recounting the moments from today. It hurt to think about but her anger overpowered every other feeling inside her, how he could do that to her. She wouldn't admit it to anyone else but she wished she could kill him, and watch that smug look leave his face. She pushed the thoughts out of her mind, that would be crazy and she could never do that. But she did know one thing, she wanted him to pay for what he had done.

When she got back into the den Dylan was laying awake on his bed, he glanced over at a sleeping Norman. "He passed out a few minutes ago, he tried waiting for you."

"Neither of you had to wait for me, I'm okay."

"Norma, there's no way you are okay."

Norma smiled at him. "But I will be." She said then walked over and laid on her side of the bed. Dylan watched her the whole time, she scooted as close to Norman as she could and wrapped her arms around him. She would look back behind her every once in awhile like she was worried someone would somehow appear there.

"Norma." Dylan said in the almost dark room, getting off the air mattress and walking over to her bed with his blanket and pillow.

"Yeah?" She said, looking back at him.

"Can I lay with you and Norman?"

"Of course." Norma said then he set his stuff down on the bed next to her. She turned to face him as he climbed onto the bed and laid down beside her, they both closed their eyes and soon fell asleep in the comfort of each others presence. None of them had even noticed Alex come downstairs and set up a spot for himself to sleep on the loveseat.


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: I know I say this in every note but thank you to those who are still sticking around, with the story line going on now more than ever I'm happy to see people that still have trust in my writing to keep this as genuine to the show as I can. And another quick note, I have been playing around with a few other story ideas that have been sitting around collecting dust since before this story was even around so if you think you might be interested in more after or even during this fic let me know. The one I have the most material for and would likely post the soonest is one kinda in a similar fashion as this one where Normero is meeting earlier in time, but much longer before this one. So let me know what you think about that and this chapter, and as always enjoy!

A light snow fell onto the ground outside, it wouldn't stay there long before melting, it never did in these kinds of climates. Norma actually preferred it that way, she had grown up in Ohio where the temperatures would drop much lower than what she had become accustomed to nowadays. The cold was a constant reminder of the times when she was younger, her family rarely had the money to pay their utility bills so most winters were spent without heat. When she was still a kid it wasn't that bad, her brother would gather up all their blankets and the two of them would snuggle up in front of the fireplace at night to keep warm. The older she got that kind act became less innocent and she began to dread the closeness between them that she once enjoyed, the cold was never the same for her after that.

Alex stepped down the stairs quietly, noticing Norma standing in front of their living room window, staring outside. He walked over and came up beside her, she glanced over at him and smiled. "Morning." He said.

"When did you sneak back upstairs?" Norma asked, sipping at her cup of coffee.

"You knew I was down here?"

"I woke up last night and saw you crammed on that tiny couch, I told you that you didn't have to do that."

"I couldn't fall asleep without knowing if you were okay." Alex said, placing his hand on her back. "How are you today?"

"A little sore, but I feel better now that I got some rest."

"Do you want to go and talk about it more while the boys are still asleep?"

"No, I really don't need to talk about it anymore, it happened and now it's over."

"You sure?" Alex asked, looking over at her to try and read her emotions.

"Yeah." Norma said with a small smile. "We should get started on breakfast, the boys are going to be up soon." She said then he followed her to the kitchen and they got started on cooking.

"I spoke with Maggie last night, she called in her temp and she is going to cover the motel till she gets back today."

"Alex, you didn't have to do that. I was going to work today." Norma said, setting down the carton of eggs she was about to open.

"After what happened there yesterday I assumed you weren't going to be in any hurry to get back."

"I really wish you wouldn't have told Maggie."

"She needed to know what happened, not only because it took place at her motel but because it was her brother who was involved."

"But she is supposed to be taking care of her aunt, not worrying about me."

"Her aunt is fine now, if anything she was milking it to keep her there longer."

"She had a steel plate inserted into her leg six days ago."

"They got her a nice wheelchair and her condo has an elevator. Maggie said she is well enough now to take care of herself."

"So when did you two plan for me to go back to my job?"

"Next Monday."

"Monday? That's five days from now, how am I supposed to get a paycheck without working that long?"

"It's only a few days, and once you go back she is going to start paying you more now that you aren't living in one of her rooms."

"I'm still going to need to make money, the boys eat everyday and they always need stuff for school. How am I going to start paying you if I'm paying for everything else with what I have left?"

"Paying me?" Alex asked, confused. "For what?"

"We are living together now, I need to be contributing."

"You don't have to give me money. I asked you to move in here because I wanted to live with you guys, not because I needed roommates to cover my bills."

"I know you didn't but like you said we are living together now, they aren't just your bills anymore. They are our bills so I'm going to cover half of them."

"I don't have any problem covering them all, I've done it for years."

"That's the only way I'm going to feel comfortable living here, I don't want to go back to depending completely on one person's income."

"Okay, but you aren't paying half. You do way more around this house than I do with all the cooking and cleaning so it's only fair that I would pay more, you can cover twenty percent."

"Thirty."

"Twenty-five, and that's as much as I'm going."

"Alright." Norma said, smiling over at him. "You are a terrible negotiator by the way."

"I would have been fine with nothing so who's really the bad negotiator here?" Alex said with a smirk the Norma tossed a bag of bread in front of him.

"You kept me distracted too long so you better help now if you want breakfast before work."

"I'm not going in today." Alex said as he untied the bread and walked over to the toaster, dropping a few slices inside.

"Alex, you can go to work. If you didn't go in every time I had some sort of problem you wouldn't have a job left to go to."

"Oliver won't care if I miss another day."

"I know he won't, and it's very kind of him to be that way but you don't need to be here with me. The weather isn't that great out so it's not like I'm planning on leaving the house today anyways, I'll just be here watching movies and playing games with the boys all day."

"They get to ditch school but you won't let me stay home from work?"

"They were awake too late last night to go in today. You never sleep anyways, you will be fine."

"I hate the idea of leaving you."

"I wish we could skip work and spend the day together all the time but we have lives and they can't be put on hold. I'm going to be okay here and you are going to go out and continue catching all the scumbags in this town so they don't have to go through these things too." Norma said, walking up beside him and pulling out the toast he had seemed to already forget about and started to butter it.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Now go wake up the boys, the eggs are only going to be a couple minutes." Norma told him then he went and did as she said.

Against his own judgment Alex listened to her and went into work. Oliver was a little surprised to see him but it turned out to be helpful that he had shown up since there were more missing items from the marina that needed to be looked into.

"How is Norma doing?" Oliver asked Alex as they drove to the marina.

"She says she is fine." Alex replied, a hint of doubt in his voice.

"And you don't believe her?"

"I honestly can't tell, either she has gotten better at lying to me or she really is okay."

"Isn't that a good thing then, if she is okay?"

"I don't know. Do you think someone would be able to get over something like that this quickly?"

"It really isn't about whether or not someone else could, it's about Norma and what she can handle. We both know she's been through a lot so maybe this isn't as big of a deal to her as it would be to anybody else."

"I just wish she would talk to me about it, she's pretending like we should move on as if it never even happened."

"Everybody copes in their own way, avoiding it may be the only thing keeping her going."

"It doesn't seem healthy."

"It's what you always do." Oliver pointed out.

"Yeah, that's why I'm worried." Alex said as they pulled up to the marina. The both of them got out of the squad car and walked up to the gate, Alex reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, searching inside it for the gate key.

"Having trouble finding it?" Oliver asked.

"Ah, yeah." Alex said, checking again to see if it was inside it.

"You had it the other day when we were here."

"I must have left it in one of my pockets, you have yours with?"

"Yeah, I have mine." He said and grabbed his out while Alex shoved his wallet back into his pocket. Oliver scanned it and they entered onto the docks.

"Gentlemen." A voice said from a yacht beside them making them both look up.

"Nick." Oliver said then Ford stepped off his boat and onto the dock.

"What brings you here?" Ford asked.

"There has been some reported thefts from boats here. You haven't had any problems with that, have you?"

"No." Ford said as he let out a chuckle. "Trying to break onto my yacht would be a waste of time, when I'm not aboard I have certain security measures that are taken."

"So what, a group of bodyguards with automatic weapons?" Alex said, looking back at the man behind Ford who had a gun tucked into his jeans.

Ford glanced back at the man then forward to them again. "I wouldn't trust that guy to guard my jacket let alone my boat, he's a business acquaintance. I find machines are more reliable than people, I have systems installed at every possible entrance."

"Any particular reason for being so paranoid?"

"Let's just say I have trust issues. It doesn't help that my own daughter is willing to share my information with just anyone. But you know what they say, a little exercise does the body good."

"What is he talking about?" Oliver whispered but Ford overheard him.

"Oh, your deputy didn't tell you?" Ford said, smirking over at Alex. "He took it upon himself to contact my daughter and trick her into giving up the time and location of when I got back to town a few months back. Then he showed up and grilled me on a case I wasn't even around for and left me to find my own way home."

"You were here, you just happened to leave right after everything went down." Alex corrected. "And don't act like you didn't call one of your men the second I drove off to come pick you up."

"You got me there, deputy." Ford said with a shrug. "So how is that case going anyways, you find any leads?"

"You know if we did your ass would be behind bars already."

"Romero." Oliver said, stopping Alex from going any further.

"That's alright sheriff. I know it can be hard for the new players to get a hang of things, he'll get it someday. It only took some housewife and a private eye to help him with his last big bust, maybe he can call in his dad to piece this one together."

"Keep talking Ford, the next time you slip up I'm going to catch you and I'm not going to let you get away with it either." Alex said.

"Good luck with that, only problem with your plan is that I never slip up." Ford said then gestured for the man behind him to follow. "Have a nice day officers." He said, walking away from them.

"What the hell Alex, you stalked the man?" Oliver asked.

"I ran into his daughter at the store, we had a simple conversation."

"Where you asked for the location of her father?"

"She told me when he was getting back to town."

"And how did you know where to go to talk to him?"

Alex exhaled. "I called her and pretended I was someone else then she told me."

"We are friends Alex but I don't know how long I'm going to be able to blindly look past these kinds of things. I understand that you are very devoted to your work but you can't keep breaking protocol and expecting to get away with it."

"I'm was trying to get answers, I know he's the one involved."

"No you don't, not until you have proof anyhow. That's our job, we do anything within reason to find evidence then we act accordingly."

"I'm not sure I can promise you I won't bend the rules on occasion to get the truth."

"You better decide, because you can't keep going on the way you have been." Oliver said then he started walking to the boat they were going to for their investigation.

Later once Alex was off work he headed straight home, while he was walking up to the front door he heard a set of screams coming from inside. He unlocked the door as quickly as possible and rushed in, the sound of the door making the screams louder.

"Oh my god Alex, you scared us!" Norma said, the three of them looking over at him from the couch.

"Scared you? I heard you screaming all the way from the front yard, I thought you were getting murdered in here." Alex said, shutting the door and walking into the living room.

"We're watching Jaws, they flip out everytime the music starts." Dylan said.

"You were screaming too." Norman said.

"Because Alex flung the door open, not because I was afraid of some CGI sharks."

Alex looked at the television screen then back at them. "Are you sure this is a good movie to be watching right now? How are you planning on sleeping tonight if you are freaking out while it's still daylight out."

"It's not like a shark it's going to show up in the house." Norma said. "I am going to want to avoid the lake for awhile though." She said, wincing at a scene on the screen.

"You wanna sit?" Dylan asked, ready to move over.

"No, I'm going to go upstairs and lay down." Alex said, nodding toward the staircase.

"You tired?" Norma asked.

"Yeah, Oliver kept me busy today."

"It might help sleeping on your bed instead of that loveseat."

"Maybe." Alex said, walking away.

"You want me to wake you later when dinner is done?"

"No, I'm not very hungry." Alex said as he kept walking upstairs. When he got to his room he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it into the hamper, the sunlight from his window hit his chest and the cut from where Keith had grabbed at him showed. He stared down at it a moment then went into his dresser and grabbed out a tee shirt, putting it on. He couldn't stand any reminder of what he had did, or really who he had become.


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: So sorry about this slow update, I ended up getting way busier than expected the last couple weeks and hadn't found time to proofread till now. Also I love that this story is making people feel the love for the show again, I've had that same experience with fics I've read in the past and the fact that anyone would think that of one of mine means so much to me. So again thank you! Please let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex didn't understand Norma lately, she was confusing most the time but he could usually read her. Now ever since everything that happened with Keith she went through each day the same as always, like it didn't bother her the least bit. Alex wanted to ask her about it but taking Oliver's advice he didn't, it was best not to bring it up unless she wanted to discuss it which apparently she didn't. He thought today would be the true test though, it was her first day going back to work at the motel and the first time since the events happened that she was going to step foot into room four again.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back? Alex asked while he watched her prance around the kitchen, humming as she cooked breakfast. "I could call Maggie and ask her for more time off if you needed."

"Alex, I already told you I'm fine going back to work." Norma said, flipping the pancakes in her frying pan. "Maggie doesn't even have me coming in for long today, I'm going to clean the rooms and work the front desk for a couple hours then I'm coming home."

"Do you want me to come by once you're off and we can pack up the rest of your stuff?"

"Are you going to be off early enough?" Norma asked, setting a plate in front of him. "You've been working a lot."

"I can be, I'm only on the schedule till three today so as long as nothing major happens I should be able to."

"I told the boys to take the bus to the motel after school, I don't want them hanging out here alone."

"You don't think they could stay here without us? I could teach them the alarms."

"Dylan offered but I'm just not ready to let them do it yet, not after everything that has happened in this town already. I told him we could revisit the subject next school year, he will be a teenager then and I'll have a better idea of what to expect living here."

"Well with any luck things will have calmed down by then."

"Yeah, I hope so." Norma said while she wrapped up a couple plates to keep them warm till the boys woke up for school.

Alex glanced down at his watch and stood up. "I should get to work, call me if you need anything." He said, walking over and giving her a quick peck on the lips.

"I will." Norma said then he was gone. After the boys woke up they had breakfast quick before heading off to school then Norma started getting herself ready for work. Alex was right, she wasn't that happy about going back today but she knew if she kept avoiding it things would only get worse. When she pulled up to the motel she glanced over at the door to her old room, it felt different now than it had before. It wasn't as tainted as her home in Scottsdale had seemed but still it was not as hopeful as it had been. She turned off her car and got out, walking into the office where Maggie was.

"Hey." Maggie said, stepping away from the front desk and toward her.

"Hey." Norma said with a weak smile.

"I really don't even know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything."

"I am sorry." Maggie blurted out.

"You don't have to be, you couldn't have known he was going to show up and do that."

"But he's my brother, it makes me feel somewhat responsible."

"What our siblings do doesn't have to be a reflection of ourselves, just because you are his sister doesn't make this your fault."

"If he shows up again I want you to know I'm going to report it immediately, I don't want him to get off scot free for this."

"Thank you Maggie, it means a lot to me that you would do that." Norma said, pulling her into a quick hug. "And I'm sorry you had to come home so soon, I hope your aunt is doing okay on her own."

"She's doing great. I got her better medical while I was there and they are sending out a private caregiver for her till she's healed completely."

"That's great to hear, she's lucky to have a niece like you." Norma said making her smile. "I should get started on the rooms, Alex is coming by later after work to help me pack up my stuff."

"Are you okay with moving in with him? Because if you aren't ready you can come stay up at the house instead, that way you don't have to stay in that room anymore."

"I'm happy moving in with him, and we're only down in the den right now anyways so we aren't moving too quickly."

"Alright, the offer always stands if he starts to bug you."

"Well it's more likely it would be the other way around, but thank you Maggie." Norma said with a smile then she grabbed her apron and went back outside to start her housekeeping. She took longer than most days cleaning the first three rooms, silently dreading getting to the forth. When she was to it she stood in front of the room a moment, taking a breath before opening the door up. It was clear to her right away that Alex had cleaned up a bit when he packed some of their stuff the first night. She knew the temporary worker hadn't been in there since she asked Maggie if they could leave the room be, so it had to have been him that removed all the bedding and thrown it into the hamper aside from the sheets that the police took for testing. She stepped inside and dragged her cart along with her. She didn't waste any time after that, grabbing the spray cleaner and washing every surface in that room thoroughly as if she were washing away the memory.

Over at the police station Alex sat at his desk, going over some files for the missing items at the marina. At this point he thought the case was pretty stupid. It was clearly some punk kids lifting things off peoples boats, their parents likely owned a space inside and they got bored and decided to screw around. Nothing taken was worth much value so they only looked into it to say they did to the owners, not actually taking it that seriously.

A sound came over the radio in the office and a voice spoke. "White Pine Bay PD?" They said and Alex grabbed it.

"Romero."

"Deputy, it's Stanley. We have a report from some hikers about a large amount of what they said looks to be dried blood found in the woods. It's possible it's from an animal but we need someone to come clear it."

"Do you have a location for me?" Alex asked, frantically reaching for a pen and notepad.

"There isn't an exact address, I'll send the coordinates through to you if you're taking the call."

Oliver walked up behind Alex and grabbed the radio from him. "This is sheriff Mackenzie. I'll take it, send them over."

"I'll send them right over, sheriff."

"Isn't that a little below your pay grade?" Chloe asked from beside them. "It's likely from some deer that bled out after getting shot then wandered off somewhere to die."

"And if it's not we have another case, I'm sick of sitting around here." Oliver said.

"So you are hoping it's human blood and that someone is dead so you have a more interesting case to work on?"

"No, I'm just gladly taking an opportunity to get out of this station for an hour."

"I'll come with you." Alex said, standing up.

"I figured you were going to." Oliver said then Alex grabbed his coat and the two of them headed out to their car. Oliver followed the coordinates he was given and they past the motel on the way, Alex watched out the window to see if he could see Norma but no one was outside. They followed the highway up a few miles and Oliver looked down at his navigation system, looking up the road some to find somewhere to turn. "I think this road might get us to it." He said and turned down the dirt path.

"Do you actually think this is going to be something worth looking into?" Alex said, looking around at the same path he had drove on the day he murdered Keith.

"You never know, in this town anything is possible." Oliver said then they drove up a little further till they could see the trailer. "Looks like someone lives out here." He said, pulling up and putting his car into park.

"Who is this land owned by?" Alex asked, as if he had been seeing the trailer there for the first time. Officer Stanley and his partner Erik we're walking around outside it, pointing out things to each other.

"It's city owned, there shouldn't be anyone residing out here." Oliver said as he turned off the car and stepped out, Alex followed him as eagerly as he could without looking suspicious.

"You forget to mention that the blood spill was in front of somebody's trailer?" Alex said to Stanley.

"I wasn't at the scene yet, the hikers said nothing about a trailer."

"You find anything?"

"Not yet, we just got here ourselves." Stanley said then Oliver and Alex walked toward him and looked the scene over.

"Seeming a little less like some injured doe." Oliver said then walked over to the front door of the trailer and knocked. "White Pine Bay police, if you're in there open up." He said and listened but there was no response, he turned back and looked at the other officers. "Either of you got gloves with?"

"Yeah, I do." Erik said, walking back to his squad car and grabbing a pair out before coming back and handing them to Oliver.

"Thanks." Oliver said and put the gloves on then opened the door. He took his flashlight out and shined it around the trailer, checking to see if anyone was inside. "No ones in here."

"You sure?" Alex asked.

"It's messy but the size of this trailer doesn't leave much room to be unseen."

"Any clue who it belongs to?" Erik asked.

"This could help." Oliver said, reaching in and pulling a piece of mail off the counter. He moved it out into the sunlight and read the name, his head shooting up toward Alex. "Keith Summers."

Alex walked over and stood next to Oliver, leaning in so he could see the name. "This is his trailer?" He asked, as if he didn't have a clue.

"It's looking that way, unless someone stole his credit card bill." Oliver said, setting it back inside.

"Did uh, did-" Stanley mumbled, trying to ask Alex something.

"Spit it out Stanley." Alex said.

"Did Norma fight back at all when Keith assaulted her?" He asked.

"He was a two hundred plus pound man who was holding her down, do you think she was able to fight back?"

"It would make sense for the blood to be here if she did."

"She didn't, she had no way to."

"Let's move past the subject please. Norma wasn't involved in this, this clearly wasn't the result of a couple scratches. Besides, we don't even know yet if this is Keith's blood." Oliver said, once again being the referee in one of Alex's bickering matches. "Stanley, you and Erik scope out the area, see if you can find any more traces of blood or anything else suspicious."

"Yes, sir." Stanley said then started to walk away when he accidently kicked an item with his foot, he bent down and looked at it closely. "I found something."

"What is it?" Oliver asked, him and Alex stepping toward him.

"A gate card key, it's got the marina logo on it." Stanley said and Alex stared down at it, fear hitting him instantly. Oliver glanced back at his partner then leaned down and picked up the key, looking it over.

"Could it be Keith's card?" Erik asked.

"He was talking about getting a boat last I heard but I don't think he ever did." Oliver said.

"The marina keeps everyone that owns property there on records, each key has a specific code so they know who is entering and exiting at what times. If we send this over to them they can scan it and tell us who it belongs to."

"I'm gonna need an evidence bag for this, we need to bring it to the station to dust for prints before we do anything else." Oliver said then Erik went back to his car again, he glanced over at Alex who hadn't said a word since they found the key. "You alright?"

"Yeah." Alex said, snapping his head away from the key. "I'm fine."


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, let me know what you think and enjoy!

There's that theory that time seems to fly when you are having fun, and the opposite effect is that it slows when you are waiting for something to happen. At this moment time was moving at snail speed for Alex. It had been over an hour since they got back to the station after looking into the blood found in front of Keith's trailer yet it had felt like an eternity. He knew how stupid it was to leave the blood spill there but unless he was willing to pull up all the patio bricks that were covered in red fluids he just had to leave it. Besides he didn't think he left any evidence that he was ever there and they weren't going to find the body, that's one thing he knew for sure. Even if they did all signs of him killing him would be washed away by now.

"Alex." Oliver said, walking out of his office and looking at his watch. "Aren't you supposed to be off now?"

Alex turned in his chair to face him. "We have a case, I'm waiting for the results back on the blood sample and that key card."

"Forensics aren't getting us any answers for at least another hour, there's nothing here for you to do."

"I can't leave."

"Yes you can, it's not that hard to do. Just stand up and walk towards any sign of freedom."

"No Oliver, I can't leave." Alex said sternly. "I need to know, I can't leave."

"Okay, you don't have to leave." Oliver said and started walking back into his office. "But you aren't getting paid for an extra hour."

Alex turned back around in his chair and glanced down at his watch, his shift had been over a few minutes now and had this case not came about he would be driving to the motel to help Norma and the boys pack up their belongings. He reached over and grabbed his cell phone, going to Norma's number and hitting call.

"Hello?" Norma said from the other line.

"Hey, it's Alex."

"Yeah, I knew that from the caller ID." Norma said with a chuckle. "You on your way? I just got done working."

"I actually can't make it over there right now, something came up at work so I'm gonna have to stay late." Alex said, getting out of his chair and walking out into the hallway for more privacy. "I'm really sorry, if you want to wait until tomorrow I should be able to help."

"I think me and the boys can handle it today, there really isn't that much to do."

"Okay."

"What time are you going to be home?"

"I'm not sure, I'm still waiting on a few things and I don't know how long it's going to keep me afterwards."

"Did something bad happen?" Norma asked, noticing that his whole tone had been a bit off.

"We ah-" Alex paused, deciding on whether to tell her or not. "We found this little trailer out in the woods, it belongs to Keith Summers."

"Wait, was he there?" Norma asked, curiously.

"No, it was abandoned. But there was blood out on the patio."

"Oh my god, did he take someone there?"

"We really aren't sure right now. They got a sample and we are looking into it, it will be a little while longer till we know more."

The door next to Alex opened and Oliver looked over at him. "Alex, I need you to come with me."

"Yeah, one second." Alex said and faced away from him. "Norma, I gotta go, I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it, we got it covered."

"I know you guys do." Alex said, glancing back at Oliver who hadn't left. "Bye, Norma."

"Bye. And keep me posted on that case, okay?"

"I will." Alex said then hung up his phone and walked over to Oliver.

"We got the results back on the gate card key." Oliver said, pausing as if he was waiting for Alex's reaction, or maybe he was just being paranoid.

"Oh, did they find anything?" Alex said, still hoping there was a chance he didn't know.

"They checked for fingerprints but the card was clean, nothing traceable on it."

"Really?"

"Yup. So we're gonna go over to the marina and have them scan it, hopefully that will get us somewhere."

"Alright, you want me to come with?"

"It's better than you sitting here staring at the walls." Oliver said, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's go." He said and they left the office and started walking to their car. Alex remained quiet as they drove then Oliver glanced over at him.

"Trouble in paradise?" Oliver asked.

"What?" Alex asked, unsure of what he meant.

"Your phone call with Norma, you were apologising for something."

"No, I just had to cancel our plans tonight. I was going to help her pack all their stuff, I asked them to move in with me."

"For real this time?"

"Yeah."

"Congratulations buddy, I always thought you were going to die alone." Oliver joked and Alex cracked a smile for the first time in hours.

"Thanks."

"I'm really happy for you Alex. When we were kids I felt so bad for everything you were going through, you deserve someone that makes you happy like Norma does."

"Thank you." Alex said, his mood suddenly dropping again. They had been friends most their lives and in a few minutes Oliver would know that he was not the man he believed him to be, that his boyhood pal was a murderer. They pulled up into the marina parking lot and Alex got the urge to tell him the truth, before they were inside and he had to find out from a complete stranger. "Oliver, I need to tell you something."

"Save it, they are about to close." Oliver said, turning off the car and removing his seatbelt.

"It can't wait."

"Sure it can, we're only going to be in there a minute." Oliver said and opened is door. "Come on." He said then Alex stepped out of the car and followed behind him toward the office doors, they entered and walked up to the man behind the counter.

"Gentlemen, how can I help you?" The man asked.

"We found this key card for your establishment, we are trying to figure out who it belongs to."

"Of course, I need the card then I can find you the information right away." He said and Oliver handed him the key card, the man scanned it and looked over at the both of them oddly.

"What is it?" Oliver asked.

"Oh it's nothing, I just saw this guy a few days ago and he gave me the creeps."

"Wait, you saw him?" Alex asked. "Is his name Keith Summers?"

"Ah, no." The man said looking back at his screen. "Joe Fioretti." He said and turned the screen towards them, the man looked to be about forty and had light blonde hair.

"And have you ever seen this man?" Oliver asked, pulling out a photo of Keith and setting it on the counter.

"Yes, the two of them came in together. They rode in to the docks on some old house boat then the blonde left by himself a couple days ago."

"Do you mind printing off this page for us?" Oliver said, pointing to the computer and the man nodded, doing as he was asked.

"Here you go." The man said, handing him the paper and the key back.

"Thank you." Oliver said and started walking out of the office, Alex was still frozen in place. "Romero, you coming?"

Alex looked back at him and nodded. "Yeah." He said then followed him outside. "Can I see that?"

"Yeah." Oliver said and handed him the paper, he looked over it on the way to the car before getting inside. "I know what happened now."

"What?" Alex asked, finally looking away from the paper.

"I didn't want to tell you but ever since Keith attacked Norma I've been looking into him more thoroughly. I thought if I brought it up to you that you would obsess over it till you figured it out, but I found something out."

"What's that?"

"You know how we have always suspected Keith of running some type of sex trafficking ring?"

"Yes, but we never found any proof."

"Because he wasn't the front man, he was just the pawn in all of it."

"You think this Joe Fioretti is the one running things?"

"Yes, and I think he has been testing Keith's loyalty by having him as a partner."

"Why would he want Keith's help? If anyone was going to screw things up it would be him."

"Because of the motel, Keith is technically the owner of the property."

"What?" Alex asked, confused. "Maggie owns the motel."

"She did, until a couple years ago when she couldn't make the payments on the second mortgage she took out. Keith came in last minute with a wad of cash, god knows from what, and took the deed over into his name."

"Why wouldn't Maggie tell me this?"

"I'm guessing she was embarrassed, she didn't want you to know she had failed."

"But why would it matter to Joe that Keith owned the motel?"

"So they could use it for their own business, they would be able to transfer the women over by boat and bring them to the motel to be tested by potential buyers. If I had to guess they must have gotten into a fight, knowing Keith it had something to do with money. This Joe probably got greedy and didn't want to give anymore so he killed him, now he'll move onto the next idiot he can find to help him."

"You think Keith is dead?" Alex asked, still shocked by everything his partner was saying.

"I don't see how he couldn't be with that amount of blood loss, if it is his that is."

"So what do we do now?"

"Hopefully this guy will be naive enough to think he got away with it and show up again, then we get him." Oliver said and Alex stayed quiet, not knowing what to say to him anymore. "What was it you wanted to tell me? Before we went inside."

"Nothing, it wasn't important." Alex said then Oliver nodded and started his car up.

By the time they had gotten all the details of their new case worked out it was past midnight, Alex arrived home to a nicely lit outside. He would always use his flashlight to find his way around the yard and to the front door but now that Norma was living with him he was certain she would turn the porch lights on everytime he got back after dark. He walked up to the front door and shoved his hand into his coat pocket, searching for his house keys but felt something different. His keys weren't missing but laying next to them was something hard and rectangular, he pulled it out and stared at it a moment. It was his gate card key for the marina, the one he had been worried he left outside Keith's trailer. It kind of made sense that he couldn't find it till today, he had put the coat in the dirty laundry days ago then Norma had washed it and put it back in his room this morning. He placed it back into his walet where he had always kept it then took out his keys and entered the house. The whole interior was dark so he crept upstairs as quietly as possible and went straight into his room. He wasn't up there more than a few minutes when he heard a light knock at his door followed by a voice.

"Alex, are you still awake?" Norma said from outside his room.

"Yeah, come in." Alex said, setting the contents of his pockets onto his dresser as she opened the door and walked inside. "Why are you still up?"

"I couldn't sleep." Norma said then walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a kiss.

"Were you able to get everything from the motel?" Alex asked, resting his hands on her hips.

"We had to take a couple trips to get it all here. We've definitely got a lot more stuff now than what we started with."

"Sorry I wasn't there to help you."

"I know you had to stay, it's alright." Norma said then waited to see if he would say anything about the case, when he didn't she spoke again. "You figure out anything else about that blood by Keith's trailer?"

Alex nodded and walked away from her grasp, sitting on the end of his bed then she followed and did the same. "We had it tested and it's Keith's blood, they are ruling it as a murder since the amount of blood loss would've been fatal."

"Oh my god, do they know who did it?"

"Oliver has an idea. He is thinking it was a business partner of Keith's, that they would transport girls and sell them as sex slaves."

"That's awful, people actually do that still?"

"More than you would think."

"I really hope you don't think less of me for saying this and I know it's a terrible thing to bring up, but I'm glad he's dead, he was a monster."

"I would never think less of you." Alex said, rubbing her back. He smiled at her then glanced over at his coat that he'd thrown over the chair in his room. "When you did my laundry was there anything in the pockets of my coat?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure. I always check all the pockets before washing clothes, you learn that after you wash a couple dozen army men." Norma said with a chuckle. "Why?"

"Me and Oliver both have these gate card keys for the marina so we can get in and out if something happens there, the only people that have them are us and the people who rent dock spaces. I had mine the day of the incident with Keith then they found a key just like it by his trailer. I couldn't find mine until a few minutes ago, it was inside my coat pocket."

Norma looked over at him, trying to make sense of everything that he was saying. It finally hit her when she noticed Alex was staring down at his hands instead of at her. "Alex, did you kill him?" She asked then Alex took a deep breath and looked up at her, not saying a word yet still giving her the answer. "Why did you do it?"

"You know why I did it Norma, I didn't have a choice. If I had arrested him like I planned on doing he would have gotten away with it, guys like him always do."

"I don't get it though, if that was your key then why do you have it back?"

"I thought it was my key. I was pretty sure of it but when we went to the marina to scan it it belonged to the man Keith has been working with, Oliver's convinced it was him who did it now."

"Well that's good, isn't it? You are off the hook and some scumbag will be put away."

"It's not good Norma, I killed a man." Alex said, standing up. "And I just spent hours worried that my boss and best friend of many years was going to walk out to my desk and have to arrest me because I didn't think to check in case I dropped something at the murder scene."

"But it wasn't even your card."

"It could have been. And who says I didn't actually drop something of mine there that they will find tomorrow, or the next day. Or what if they find a witness who saw the local deputy ditching a truck with a dead body in the back into a lake, or god forbid any other evidence that could link me to it."

"They won't."

"You don't know that Norma, my hands will never be clean of this." Alex said, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself down. "I just, I need to lay down now. I have work in the morning and I can't be thinking about this right now."

"Okay. Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No, no I don't." Alex said then he took note of her hurt expression. "I'm sorry, I just want to be alone right now."

Norma stood up and walked over to him, putting a hand on his cheek and rubbing it gently. "Okay. Good night, Alex." She said then leaned in and gave him a kiss. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night." Alex said then he watched as she left his room. Telling her might have been the stupidest thing he'd done so far but she was the only person he felt would understand. She had once asked him why he didn't kill Sam when he had the chance, whether she would freak out now about him killing Keith he still wasn't sure. At least he didn't have to keep it from her any longer and she wouldn't have to fear him coming back for her.


	30. Chapter 30

A/N: I'm a little shocked myself that I've made it to thirty chapters, and even more shocked that anyone is still following along and wanting more. Now that we only have a third of this story left a lot of loose ends are gonna start being tied up soon and the story is going to be moving forward more. I know these last few chapters have been very Alex centered and some of the following ones will be too but I promise we got a ton more Normero and family stuff on it's way. I also wanted to apologize to the person who brought up Alex's behavior not being in character during the last part of the chapter and anyone else who felt that way. I have a tendency to over analyze even my own writing and sort of fill in the blanks without making it fully clear why someone is acting a certain way. The next few chapters will kind of explore the reasons but still I'm gonna address part of it now. Alex is not at all regretting the murder itself. But this is the first time he has killed someone when he technically did not have to and that is something that will make someone question other aspects of themselves. And in Bates when he had killed people he had a sense of security in doing so, that kind of police work was already set in motion which meant he didn't have to worry about what came after it. Plus he had already known Norma killed Keith so he didn't have to wonder if that was something she would look badly at him for or have a friend who he is lying to everyday now. I'm hoping that makes my intentions of his storyline a little more believable so everyone can enjoy the next couple chapters knowing more of the reason behind his actions. Sorry for this ridiculously long rambling, I just don't want anyone to leave this story feeling uneasy about anything. So thank you for all the feedback, let me know what you think and enjoy.

Alex laid on his bed, he had already showered and he was fully dressed for work but he couldn't bring himself to go downstairs. His confession last night in his low lit bedroom was rash, now that he had thought more about it half the night he wasn't sure how to approach her in the light of day. Was she going to be scared of him now? Or maybe she would want to move out, not wanting her young sons around someone like him. She may have seemed okay with it but could have she been faking it? She pretended things were okay to Sam then as soon as he was out of the house she left him and never turned back. He listened as the front door clicked shut and the noise of them downstairs came to a stop, he stood up from his bed and walked downstairs to leave.

"Alex." Norma called out, walking up behind him as soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs. He turned and looked at her, she smiled slightly at him. "You weren't going to say goodbye?"

"I thought you had left already, I heard the door shut."

"I don't work till noon today, that was the boys leaving. Will picked them up, they are going over to Emma's house till later." Norma said and looked him over. "Are you leaving for work already?"

"I'm supposed to be there in a half an hour."

"Then you have time for breakfast, it's still warm." Norma said, gesturing toward the kitchen.

"I'm really not hungry." Alex said, standing in place.

Norma paused a moment then stepped closer to him. "Alex, we should really talk about what you told me last night."

"I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"You have to, you can't just drop this on me and not expect to discuss it."

"You didn't want to talk to me about anything that happened with Keith."

"That was different, I didn't want to open old wounds."

"Old wounds?" Alex said with a chuckle. "That wound didn't even have time to heal before you shut me out. You stopped talking to me about it as soon as it was written in the report."

"That doesn't even matter, these two things are not on the same level."

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say to you."

"Tell me that it's going to be okay. Tell me you aren't going to get caught and me and the boys aren't going to have to visit you from behind bullet proof glass." Norma said, raising her voice with each word.

"I can't tell you that, I don't know what's going to happen." Alex yelled back. Neither of them were sure why they were shouting, it had nothing to do with anger.

"Just tell me you won't leave me." Norma said, her eyes lining with tears.

Alex stared at her, he would never promise anything he wasn't sure of. He was about to speak when he was cut off by his phone ringing, he grabbed it out of his pocket and looked at the caller ID. "It's Oliver." He said then answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, can you come into the office? I got something I need to talk to you about." Oliver said from the other line.

"Okay, I'll be right there." Alex said then hung up the phone. "I need to go, Oliver wants to talk to me." He said and leaned in, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before disappearing out of the house.

Alex arrived at the station a few minutes later and walked into Oliver's office. He felt a fear he was sure he would have to get used to, the thought that one day his friend would figure out the truth about him.

"Hey." Oliver said, looking up at him from his desk. "Take a seat."

Alex stepped over to the chair and sat down, looking over at him. "What's going on?"

"This is going to be out in the open soon and being my closest friend I wanted to tell you first."

"What is it?" Alex said, trying not to seem too impatient.

"Krista's pregnant." Oliver said, a wide smile forming on his face.

"You're going to be a dad?"

"I'm going to be a dad." Oliver said and Alex started to smile.

"When did you find out?"

"We found out about three months ago, but after having so much trouble conceiving over the years we decided to wait till she was further along to start telling people. We told her parents already and Krista wanted to start telling everybody but I told her to wait till you knew." Oliver said, giddy as he'd ever seen him.

Alex hopped up from his chair and walked over to him, Oliver stood up and they went straight into a hug. Neither of them were the touchy feely type when it came to their friendship but the news called for something nicer than a simple handshake. Alex pulled away and stood next to him. "So, do you know what it is yet?"

"Yeah." Oliver said with a grin, before he could answer there was a knock at his office door. "Come in." He said and one of his officers walked in, looking oddly at their close proximity. "This better be important, I think Alex was about to let me get to second base."

"Do you always have to ruin a nice moment?" Alex asked, backing away from him more.

"Believe me, nothing is ruining this moment." Oliver said with a grin then looked back at the officer. "What is it?

"A body washed up on shore." The officer said and Oliver's smile faded instantly.

"You got the location?" Oliver asked and the officer walked over to him, handing him a post it note with the address. "Thank you." He said then the officer left.

"Where is it?" Alex asked.

"It's at a lakefront property in town, off of Prairie street." Oliver said, grabbing his coat.

The two of them drove to the lake in silence, deciding to put their previous conversation on hold till a better time. When they pulled up there was already several other officers in the driveway, they hopped out of the car and walked around back to where the yard met the lake.

"Sheriff." Stanley said, waving them over to him. "This way." He said then Oliver and Alex walked up to the plastic covered body. "The owner's of the house came into town this morning, they haven't vacationed here since fall so they aren't certain how long he could have been here."

"He?" Alex asked.

"It's a male." Stanley said, bending down to uncover the body.

Even with the bodies bloating Alex was sure it couldn't be Keith, this man was shorter and his clothing wouldn't have been as faded and deteriorated as theirs was. From the portions that were still clung to the body it looked as though the man was wearing jeans and a tee shirt.

"Have you checked the pockets?" Oliver asked.

"Nothing. No wallet, no way to identify him." Stanley said.

Alex stepped closer and leaned down, noticing something on what was left of his shirt. "Can you unfold that part?" He asked, pointing to the little bits of red.

Stanley reached down and straightened the shirt out the best he could, most of it was caked together and ripped if he wasn't too careful. When he got it all pulled apart he looked at the design left showing, it wasn't easy to identify without looking very closely. "Is it some kind of animal?" He asked, looking up at Alex and Oliver.

"Yeah, it's a dragon." Alex said, standing up and looking at Oliver. "Dylan just got Mortal Kombat on his gameboy, that dragon is on the cover."

Oliver glanced over at the body laying in the sand, staring intensely at it as he realized who it was. "It's Riley Jacobson."

"Stanley, call the morgue and tell them we are bringing a body in. We need every test run, tell them it is top priority."

"Yes, sir." Stanley said, standing up and walking away to make the call.

"It's a boy." Oliver said, finally looking back over at Alex. "I'm having a son." He said, walking away toward their car without another word.

Having to tell a mother her son was dead is the closest thing to torture that anyone could ever go through, taking every last bit of the woman's hope of someday seeing her child again and destroying it. It was certainly something Alex hadn't ever imagined doing, he always had such a different idea of what being a cop would be like when he was younger. They had identified the body was in fact Riley's a couple hours ago and went straight to Cassandra Jacobson's house to let her know. Oliver had been the most comforting to her, making sure she was going to be okay before they left and letting her know she could come to them with anything she needed in the future. But then as soon as they left her house he went back to the stone cold emotion he had been wearing since they found out it was Riley washed up, it surprised Alex to see his once cheery partner so empty looking.

Alex got home close to eight pm and heard the sounds of Norma and the boys in the dining room, it had been agreed that if he wasn't home by seven they would get started on dinner without him.

"Your plate?" Norma said, holding her hand out to Norman. He handed over his empty dish and she walked over to Dylan who did the same. Alex watched this small interaction between them, it was hard not to think about how it would feel if he had to come home every night knowing one of them wouldn't be there. And he hadn't even had them in his life all that long, he could only imagine what it would be like to lose your own child.

Norma glanced over and noticed him there on her way to the kitchen. "Hey, I didn't hear you come in."

"Oh Alex." Dylan said, turning around in his chair excitedly. "We went with Will to his neighbors garage sale today and I got a razor scooter, you have to see the tricks I can do on it."

"He taught me the bunny hop." Norman said with a big grin.

"That's awesome." Alex said, putting on a smile. "Why don't you get some warmer clothes on and I'll help your mom load the dishwasher, we can go out after."

"Okay." Dylan said, both of the boys hopping up and going to the other room. Alex grabbed the leftover dishes of food from the table and followed Norma to the kitchen.

"Thank you." Norma said, watching him as he set the bowls on the counter and covered them.

Alex nodded and walked over to the fridge, putting it all away. "I'm sorry about this morning." He said, coming up beside her to help with the dishwasher.

"It's alright, you had to go."

"I meant about how I acted."

"You weren't wrong." Norma said, setting the freshly rinsed plates into the dishwasher. "I did shut you out. It wasn't something I was trying to do." She said, drying off her hands and facing him. "I don't want you to think it was something I did personally to you."

"I know, I shouldn't have even compared the two things. I was trying to get out of talking about what I did and it was a stupid distraction, I won't do that again." Alex said, reaching over and gently rubbing her arm.

"So what did Oliver want this morning?"

Alex cracked a small smile, thinking back to how happy Oliver was when he came into his office. "Krista's pregnant, they're having a baby."

"Was this planned?"

"They have been trying for over two years now, they didn't think it was ever going to happen."

Norma smiled wide. "That's amazing, I need to call Krista and give her congratulations." She said, reaching for the phone in her pocket when Alex grabbed her hand and held it.

"Now probably isn't the best time." Alex said then she looked at him waiting for an answer to why. "We found Riley Jacobson's body washed up from the lake today." He didn't have to say anything more when Norma pulled him into a hug, he wrapped his arms around her and held on tightly then they just stood that way a minute.

"We're ready." Norman said happily as him and his brother entered the kitchen.

"I had him put on an extra layer in case he falls down again this time." Dylan said.

Alex broke apart from Norma and looked at them, Norman looking a little puffy with two sweaters on. "Looks good." He joked.

"Are you done with the dishes?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Alex said, draping his arm across Norma as they walked, not wanting to lose the comfort being near her had always brought him.

They spent about an hour outside watching the boys play with their new scooter, most the time Alex and Norma sat on the porch while they showed off all the tricks they came up with. They even joined in a few times which didn't go all that well, the scooter was definitely not meant for people of their height.

"That looks sore." Norma said as she stood outside the bathroom door in Alex's room.

Alex looked up from the palms of his hands he had under the sink, the water still washing away the dried up blood. "Not really, it feels better now that I picked all the gravel out." He said, turning off the faucet and grabbing a couple paper towels to pat his hands dry. "How's your knee?"

"It's fine, I think you caught me soon enough so it didn't do much damage."

"The boys asleep already?"

"Yeah, I think we wore them out." Norma said, walking over to him and putting a hand on his back then resting her head on his shoulder. She smiled lightly as she looked at him in the mirror, she loved watching him instantly relax as she rubbed his back gently. "I'm sorry everything has been such a disaster."

"Me too." He said while turning his body so they were face to face, placing his hands on either side of her. "I know I can't promise that what I did won't have repercussions but this morning when you asked me to tell you I won't leave, that is something that I can promise. No matter what happens I will not leave you."

"And I'll do the same, even if it means visiting you in prison." Norma said and he smiled genuinely.

"Well thank you, I appreciate that." Alex said then she wrapped her arms around his neck, stroking the hair on the back of his head. She leaned in and kissed him, he returned it at first until it started to get a little more heated.

"You okay?" She asked, noticing him pulling back some.

"Yeah, I'm just really exhausted and I have to go into work early tomorrow morning."

"I should go downstairs then, let you get some sleep."

"You don't have to." Alex said when she let go of him. "Go downstairs I mean, you could lay up here awhile."

Norma smiled at him and took his hand. "Okay."


	31. Chapter 31

A/N: Apologies on how flipping long it took me to finally post this chapter. I got extremely busy, then I was sick, and then busy again. But I am back now and hopefully can stick to my usual updates, especially now that it's getting cold outside I'm gonna try and devote more of my free time to writing again. One quick side note about this chapter, when I first planned it out it was going to be two chapters but ended up as one big sloppy one that I was too lazy to split up, because of that it does have a lot going on in a short amount of writing. Aside from that I'm glad to be back so please let me know what you think and enjoy!

A five am call woke Alex from an already restless sleep, Oliver let him know they were going to be having more information on Riley's cause of death and he wanted him down at the station when they got it. He got ready and quietly snuck out of the house as not to wake anybody, then drove right to the station. Once he got there the two of them headed down to the morgue to talk to their coroner, Doctor Wilkins.

"You got any news for us yet?" Oliver asked as soon as they walked into the room.

"Yes." She said, grabbing her file. "The cause of death is from drowning."

"What?" Alex asked. "Were there any signs of foul play?"

"Not any I can identify."

"That doesn't make any sense. He was a sixteen year old boy living in White Pine Bay, he had to have known how to swim."

"I'm sure he did, but with the amount of drugs in his system I doubt he could sit up straight let alone swim."

"Which drugs was he using?"

"Well I got the tox screen back and it looks like an opioid cocktail. He had taken Demerol, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, and Vicodin."

Alex turned around and pushed through the doors of the morgue harshly, each of them left swinging open and closed even after he had left the room. Oliver excused himself then followed after him and caught up to him out in the parking lot, stepping in front of him to stop him from going any further.

"Alex, stop a minute, talk to me." Oliver said, holding his partner back.

"You know what this means?" Alex asked, much louder than he had planned.

"What? What does what mean?"

"The drugs in Riley's system. They were the same ones stolen from the pharmacy, the same ones we found in Lynn's system."

Oliver pieced together what he was saying and realized those were in fact the same drugs. "I'm coming with you." He said, pulling out his car keys.

After checking at Ford's house with no luck they drove to the marina hoping he might be on his boat and not in another country again, knowing about his security measures they chose to yell for him instead of busting right onto the yacht.

"Over here." Ford said, looking down on them from the highest deck. "What can I help you with?"

"You can start by getting down here." Alex said.

"You can come up, the alarms are off." Ford said then they walked onto the yacht and found their way up to where Ford was. "Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked and Oliver pulled out his gun, pointing it at him.

"You can take that gun out of the back of your slacks and set it on the ground." Oliver said and Alex stood beside him watching, unsure what tactic his partner was using.

"Sheriff, is this any way for a guest to behave?" Ford asked.

"Now, two fingers only." Oliver ordered then Ford reached behind him and grabbed out his gun, slowly setting it onto the ground.

Oliver put his gun back in the holster then reached down and picked up Ford's before looking back at him. "I'm sure you've heard by now that the body washed up yesterday was Riley Jacobson."

"I've heard rumblings."

"I'm sure you also know he was pumped full of the same drugs your ex overdosed on."

"I don't recall reading that in the newspaper, it's just awful when young kids go down that route."

"Don't give me that bullshit." Oliver yelled. "What, the father was in prison so you didn't see any use in keeping his son around to blackmail him with? Or was that your plan from the beginning, get him back for screwing your daughter?"

"I don't have a clue as to what you are referring to. But if I'm being honest the world was just did a huge favor getting rid of that boy now before he could grow up to be like his father." Ford said smugly, his comment followed by three rounds of gunshots.

"What the hell." Alex said, watching Oliver stand frozen in place while Ford dropped to the ground. "Oliver, what the hell did you just do?"

"He killed Riley, we both know that." Oliver said, turning to Alex. "No one in this town takes us seriously Alex, the more we try to fix it the more it falls apart. And I'm sick of seeing scum like him being put behind bars only to be bailed out by some fancy lawyer they paid with their drug money."

"So you decided killing him was a better option?"

"Our system doesn't work, it's time for us to make our own. One that will keep our town safe from all the shit that goes on here."

Alex raised his hand to his temple, rubbing it. "I can't believe this. I trusted you to do better by this town, that's why I gave you the big break that landed you as sheriff."

"I am protecting this town, eye for an eye. It's the only way this is going to work and if you think long enough about it you know that's the truth."

"This, this isn't you Oliver. You don't run things like this."

"I thought the same thing about you too, but look where we are now."

"What are you talking about? I didn't kill him!" Alex said, gesturing toward Ford's now lifeless body.

"But you did kill Keith Summers." Oliver said and Alex stopped talking, staring back at him. "You think I didn't figure that out? Come on Alex, you made me sheriff for a reason. And okay in the beginning it was only a suspicion but then when we were out and his trailer and you talked about him in past tense I knew for sure. Besides, who do you think covered it up for you?"

"You were the one who put the key card in my coat?" Alex asked, shocked.

"I understand why you did it, he got away with so much more than he should have. In and out of jail for small charges, never enough to link him to the rape or sex trafficking we all knew he was apart of. Then he comes back to our town and starts the same kind of trouble, with Norma noless. You had to kill him, had it been Krista I would have done the same thing."

Alex stood silent a minute, trying to wrap his head around everything that had just happened. "Okay, here's what the story is going to be." He said, grabbing the gun out of Oliver's hand. "We got an anonymous tip about gunshots at the marina, we show up and find Ford shot to death on his own boat."

"Why don't we just say I shot him in self defense?"

"Because Oliver, if you tell them that they are going to investigate you and they aren't going to look so kindly on the fact that you used Ford's gun to kill him."

"I used his gun?" Oliver asked then looked down at his holster where his gun sat. "Why don't I remember having his gun?"

"It's shock, that's what happens after you kill a man."

Oliver looked over at Ford, his emotions starting to show again. "Did you feel like this?"

"Kinda, a little bit. Not as much as I had expected to." Alex said honestly. "I'm gonna ditch the gun then we can call this in."

"What about the security cameras? And we used your key to get in here."

"You covered up one murder already this week, we're gonna find a way to do another." Alex said then he walked over to the side of the boat and chucked the gun into the lake.

Where they normally would have been working their asses off to solve a case they were instead doing everything they could to cover one up. They got the security camera footage and all the logs for the gate entrance and removed any sign of them being there before Ford's death by destroying the last several hours then they made sure both their stories lined up perfectly before they filled out the reports. When Alex was done with work he left the station on foot, where he was going he wouldn't need his car anyways. He walked to the town over and found a pub in the downtown area, going inside and finding a seat at the bar.

"What can I get for you?" The bartender asked, her name tag read 'Camilla'.

"Shot of whiskey, Jack Daniels." Alex said.

Camilla reached under the counter and grabbed a shot glass then filled it to the top. "Here you go." She said and he took the shot, seemingly unfazed by the taste.

"Another." He said and she filled it up again.

"I haven't seen you around here before."

"I didn't want to go somewhere people might recognize me."

"Most the people here come to hide from the world too."

"I'm not hiding, it's just because of my job. Drinking too much in public would hurt the image of it, although with all the stuff happening lately I don't think there is much of one to protect." Alex said, taking another shot. "You can leave the bottle." He said and she laughed, sliding it over to him.

"I'll leave you alone with your new friend." Camilla said as he grabbed the bottle to pour another shot. "Holler if you need anything else." She said then disappeared down the bar to help another customer.

An hour and how many shots Alex wasn't even sure later a woman sat next to him at the bar. He could see in the corner of his eyes her looking over at him like she was waiting for him to turn and interact with her, when he didn't she spoke up.

"Hey." She said with a smile. "I'm Ashli."

"Alex." He said, not looking up from his glass.

"You wanna pour me a drink, handsome?"

"I'm not a bartender, she is." Alex said, nodding toward Camilla.

"That's not really what I meant." She said with a chuckle.

"I know, but if you don't mind I'm just trying to sit here quietly and have a drink."

"Whatever you say." She said and got up from the seat, plotting her next conquest.

"You know she was flirting with you, right?" Camilla asked.

"I could tell."

"Why weren't you interested? She was hot."

"I have a girlfriend."

"That doesn't stop most guys."

"It stops me, I would never do that to someone I care about." Alex said, making her smile.

"You're a good guy, she's lucky to have you."

"I'm the lucky one, she's way to good for a guy like me."

"Most the time the other person thinks the same thing, as humans we have a way of putting ourselves down."

"In my case it's true, she has been through hell yet she is the most genuine person I have ever met."

"You have a picture?" Camilla asked and Alex grabbed for his wallet, taking out a photo them and the boys had taken together on Halloween and handing it to her. "She's beautiful, if I thought there was any chance of stealing her from you I'd try." She said and Alex smiled. "These your boys?"

"Hers, their dads aren't apart of their lives."

"They must be happy to have you around then."

"They weren't at first, at least not the older one but they have seemed to warm up to me." Alex said and she handed the photo back to him.

"That's a great family you got there, keep being an honest man." She said then he looked at the photo, putting it back in his wallet before taking another shot. "So why isn't she here drinking with you?"

"She's at home with the boys."

"Home? Do you live together?"

"Yeah, they moved in with me a couple weeks ago."

"I give you credit for having the guts to let them move in. I had an ex who wanted to move in and I wouldn't let her because she had a hamster, you got two kids running around now."

"They lived with me a little while before I was with their mother so I got a trial run, they're great kids."

"Was she renting a room from you?"

"No, she had an abusive ex who found out where she was. I was keeping her safe with me, at least trying to anyways."

"Okay honestly, do you have a sister with the same morals as you?"

"I don't. But it was also part of my job to protect her."

"Oh yeah, I never asked you what you did."

"I'm a deputy over in White Pine Bay."

"Now I understand what you meant by having a bad image, I remember a few months back hearing about the old sheriff running a drug trade in that town."

"Yeah, that's my dad." Alex said, the liquor allowing him to share far more about his life than he was used to.

"Really?"

"I know, it's not a proud thing to admit."

"Did you know about it?"

"I'm the one who put him away for it."

"You lead an interesting life, deputy."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Well you are a much better man than your father." Camilla said then a man down the bar called for another drink. "Sorry, gotta go make those tips." She said then walked off.

Alex took a few more shots quick then he stood up and headed to the bathroom, after he finished he walked over to the sink and washed his hands. He filled his palms with water and splashed it onto his face, trying to let the cool liquid calm him down. When he leaned back up he caught his reflection in the mirror, his mind going back to when he had talked to Dylan on their first night at his place. His own words echoing through his head. ' _What good is anything in life when you can't even look at the reflection in the mirror without feeling disgusted in yourself?'_

He raised up his hand and struck the mirror, shattering it into hundreds of pieces. He pulled his hand back and examined it, he couldn't feel the pain yet his hand had blood running down from it. If that wasn't a sign to stop drinking and get home what was? He grabbed a few paper towels and covered his hand, walking back out to the bar. He reached into his wallet and took out a couple hundred dollar bills and a twenty for the tip, throwing them on the counter.

Camilla glanced down at the money then back at Alex. "I think you put the wrong amount down, this is way too much."

"I broke one of the mirrors in the bathroom, that should cover it and my bill." Alex said then she noticed the blood covered paper towels on his hand.

"Oh my god, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just gotta get home."

"Where's home? Don't you live in White Pine Bay?

"Yes, it's just the town over."

"Hold on a sec." Camilla said then yelled over to one of the other bartenders. "Mason, cover my spot, I'll be back in thirty." She said then grabbed out a clean rag from under the bar, tossing it to Alex. "Here, wrap your hand so you don't get blood in my car."

"You don't have to do that."

"You are drunk and bleeding, I'll feel awful if tomorrow I hear in the news some guy froze to death walking home from a bar."

"Yeah, because a lot of people freeze to death in Oregon." Alex said to her as she started walking him toward the door.

"You know for a sweet guy you really are a smartass." Camilla said as they walked into the parking lot. "Here's my car." She said, opening the door for him.

"I should have tipped you better." He said, looking it over.

"Haha, just get in the car." She said and he climbed in.

On the drive back he could feel his last few shots hitting him even stronger than before, it was the point of being drunk he always enjoyed. Your mind was free of all the unnecessary drama and stress of life, comfortably numb.

"You are going to have to stay awake or I'll never be able to find your house." Camilla said, Alex's eyes opening back up.

"It's the next right." Alex said, looking down the dark roads. "I think." He said then she took the turn and drove down the street till he noticed his house. "There, the white and blue one."

"You sure?" Camilla joked.

"Yeah." Alex said and she pulled up next to it on the street. He glanced into the house seeing the light of the television flickering through the living room window.

"Someone's still up."

"They are probably watching a movie, I was hoping they'd be asleep before I got here."

"You don't want to see them?"

"I don't want them to see me while I'm like this."

"Can you sneak past them?"

"I'm gonna try." Alex said, grabbing the door handle. "Thank you for the ride home."

"No problem, you get some sleep, okay?"

"I will." Alex said then climbed out of the car, shoving his hurt hand into his coat pocket to keep it hidden. The walk to his front porch was a challenge, his feet felt heavy and his head was spinning. When he finally made it to the door he attempted to be as quiet as possible, that attempt failed almost immediately when he lost his balance and sent the door flying open, hitting the wall behind it. "Dammit." He whispered to himself, looking over at Norma and the boys who were on the couch staring at him.

Norma hopped off the couch and hurried over to him, smelling the liquor on him as soon as she was near him. "Are you okay?" She asked, helping him close the door.

"I was trying to be quiet in case you were sleeping."

"I wasn't sleeping, and that's probably good because you definitely weren't quiet."

"I'm so sorry." Alex said, reaching up and holding her cheek with his good hand, rubbing it lightly.

"God, how much did you have to drink?" Norma whispered, not wanting the boys to hear.

"Just a little bit."

"A little bit to a rhinoceros, maybe." Norma said and grabbed a hold of him when he started to stumble again. "Let's get you upstairs before you take a face dive to the floor." She said and started guiding him to the stairs.

"Is Alex alright?" Norman asked.

"He's fine sweetie, he's just not feeling well." Norma said then she walked him upstairs to his bedroom, he was about to try and lay down when she stopped him. "Wait a minute, I'm gonna take off some of your clothes."

"Really?" Alex asked with a smirk.

"So you can be comfortable while you sleep this off." Norma said, making his smile fade.

Norma brought her hands up to his shoulders and started to remove his jacket, she got one arm out then she pulled on the other but it kept getting caught on his hand. "You need to take your hand out of your pocket so I can get this off." She said then Alex already forgetting why his hand was in there in the first place pulled it out, revealing his bloody rag covered hand after she sat him down on his bed. "What did you do to your hand?"

Alex glanced down at his hand. "I punched a mirror."

"Why in the world would you do that?"

"I didn't want to look at my reflection."

"And just stepping away from the mirror apparently wasn't an option." Norma said then stood up and walked into the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to clean it so it doesn't get infected." Norma called out from the other room, returning a moment later with some of the leftover materials from his gunshot wound. She helped him lie down and sat on the bed next to him, taking his hand and cleaning it up before wrapping it in bandages. She set the rest of the stuff on the nightstand then looked down at him. "Alex, what happened?"

"Today I found out I'm more like my dad than I thought I was."

"Why would you say that? You know you are nothing like your father."

"I killed Keith when I could have arrested him."

"You knew he'd be let free and you didn't want him to hurt anybody else."

"I didn't want him to hurt you, I was thinking of myself and what I wanted."

"How is protecting me thinking of yourself?"

"That's not even the only thing, and honestly I'd do it again in a second anyways." Alex said, looking away from her and down at the bed while he talked. "We found out Riley was murdered but there was no evidence of it, we couldn't make the arrest but we knew who did it."

"That's awful, so he's just going to get away with it?"

"No, he's not." Alex said, shaking his head as he looked back up at Norma. "Oliver shot him, he's dead."

"That's why you're upset?"

Alex shook his head again. "No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I agreed with what Oliver had told me about taking matters into our own hands when it came to this town. I didn't tell him I agreed, in fact I told him I didn't think it was right." Alex said, pausing a moment to think. "I agreed with murder which is never something I thought I would do. I just wanted to be a good cop."

"You are a good cop, and I agree that things in this town need to be handled differently. Think about how many lives will be saved because he is dead, and think about how many girls are safe from Keith Summers now. It may not be by the book but what you did was good for this town, you shouldn't beat yourself up for it."

"You don't think I'm weak?"

"Not even a little, you are the strongest man I've ever known." Norma said making him smile. He reached over and grabbed her hand, tracing it with his fingertips then running his hand up her arm. She looked down at him and saw the look of desire in his eyes, one she hadn't seen since before the incident with Keith. He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her thigh just below the hem of her nightgown, slowly pushing it up further leaving a trail of kisses up her leg. She set her hands on the sides of his face and stopped him, pulling his head up away from her body and leaning down so they were face to face. "Alex, the boys are right downstairs."

"Mhmm." Alex mumbled then leaned in and kissed her lips, the taste of liquor blending with the mouth wash Norma had just used in an odd way that was addicting. His head dropped to her neck, pushing himself up on the bed to get better access as he kissed and sucked her bare skin.

"They might come up here."

"Lock the door."

"They could hear us."

"We'll be quiet." Alex whispered into her ear.

"You couldn't even make it through the front door without making any noise."

"Unless you are looking for something really wild I'm not going to fall onto anything again."

"Alex, you need to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep." Alex said, moving her hair aside and kissing behind her ear which he knew she loved.

Norma closed her eyes, enjoying the touch she had been craving from him lately a moment before coming back to her senses. "How about I come back up here after the boys are asleep? If you're still up for this we'll continue."

Alex dropped his forehead onto her shoulder, exhaling in defeat. "Okay, you win." He said then gave her one final kiss on the lips before she stood up.

Norma covered him with his blanket then grabbed his bloody rag off the nightstand before heading back downstairs. She went and discarded it in the laundry room and washed her hands then walked back into the living room where Dylan was sitting on the couch.

"Norman go to sleep?" Norma asked, looking toward the den.

"He kept falling asleep on me, I told him to go to his bed." Dylan said then she sat down next to him, he stared over at her a moment. "What did he do to you?"

Norma looked away from the television and over at him, noticing a look a rage on his face. "What do you mean?"

"I know how this goes. He's drunk so you are going to ignore the fact that he hurt you, say it will all be better in the morning when he's sobered up."

"Dylan, what are you talking about? Alex didn't hurt me."

"Don't lie to me. There was blood all over that rag and you have a bruise on your neck that you didn't have before you went upstairs."

"The blood was from his hand, he hurt it at the bar." Norma said then reached up to her neck, feeling the dampness left over from where Alex was kissing her, putting it all together. "Sweetie, that's not a bruise."

"Don't talk to me like I'm stupid, I know what a bruise looks like."

"I really wish you would have been older when I explained this to you."

"Explained what?"

"Adults do a lot of stuff when they're alone together-" Norma started to explain then Dylan cut her off.

"Oh god, please tell me you aren't trying to give me the sex talk."

"I wish I wasn't."

"I watch television, I already know all about sex and protection and babies."

"Okay, I'm changing the television restrictions tomorrow."

"How does this have anything to do with that?"

"Do you know what a hickey is?" Norma asked and Dylan looked down at her neck a second then right back at the television.

"Forget I asked."

Norma smiled. "You don't have to worry about Alex drinking, he's just having a bad night." She said and he looked back at her.

"What happened?"

"Work stuff."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so."

"And he wasn't mean to you while you were up there?"

"Everyone acts different when they drink, guys like Sam get angry and lash out easily. With Alex it isn't like that, he's very affectionate."

"You can stop there."

"His hands were on me for whole different reasons."

Dylan hopped off the couch and headed toward the den. "I'm going to bed, hopefully my nightmares will be better than this conversation."

"Night." Norma said with a smile. She turned off the television before going back upstairs to check on Alex. When she opened the bedroom door she saw him sleeping peacefully then she turned around and went back downstairs.


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: Thank you for all the feedback on the last chapter, I've been really on the fence about so much of this story and every time I post you all manage to take my doubts away. Well until it's time to put out the next chapter, then I panic again.. But beside that I'm having so much fun seeing everyone's reactions and how people still continue to follow along after all this time. A quick note about suggestions because I have gotten a few of them during this story, I absolutely love them and will always consider them for future fics but this particular one is completely outlined and for the most part already finished. I actually wrote this chapter all the way back in the spring and am only now proofreading it. Which yes seems a little crazy but I'll sit down some days and write out three full chapters then other times it's been months and I haven't wrote more than a sentence. So it's far less stressful to be way ahead in the story that way I don't have to leave everyone waiting while I try to come up with all the little details to add to the story lines I have planned out. But I'm going to stop rambling now because my quick note has become the size of the first paragraph already. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think!

When Alex was a kid him and all the other boys in town would ride their bikes down to the park and have a weekly game of baseball in the fields. At that time he was still in the stage of not wanting to leave the house in fear of what might happen with his parents while he was gone. If he was home he could keep an eye on things to make sure his dad didn't get too out of hand, or calm his mom when she would have one of her episodes. Had it not been for his old friend Bob Paris he never would have left the house, he could tell he took pity on him after overhearing his dad go off on him in the parking lot at school one morning since he came up to him for the first time that day and invited him to play with everyone. That was all great for awhile, he hadn't expected to actually enjoy being around other people so much. One day he was on a home run streak, everyone of his friends were cheering for him as he stepped up to the plate. If he got one more home run he would beat out Jimmy Brennan for most in one game, he was even more pleased that Jimmy was pitching for the other team and would be there to see him steal the title away. He took his stance and was fully ready to hit another one out of the park when instead Jimmy chucked the baseball straight at his head, that's when Alex decided most people sucked. He thought it was the worst pain he had ever felt as he laid on his back in the grass, closing his eyes to stop the black dots from appearing. Now he would take that hit to the head over this.

Alex moaned when he heard the loud knock at his door, rubbing his head. "Please just come in and make that noise stop." He said then Norma walked inside, a tray of food in hand.

"I thought you might be needing this." She said, walking over to him while he sat up and set it in his lap. She had the hangover special, scrambled eggs, bacon and tomato juice with a couple of aspirin set next to the plate.

"Thank you." Alex said, swallowing the pills quick before he picked up his fork and started to eat.

"Do you have to work today?"

"I think it's safe to say Oliver isn't expecting me in today." Alex said then squinted as he tried to recall the events from the night before, not being able to distinguish dreams from reality. "Did I do anything stupid last night?"

"No, but you were pretty handsey."

"We didn't?" Alex said then paused, hoping she knew what he was asking.

"No."

"Good." He said then took another bite of his food.

"You did give me a hickey though." Norma said and his head shot up, looking over at her.

"I did?" Alex asked then she turned her head to the side and moved her hair away, revealing the discolored marking. "I'm sorry, I tend to forget my boundaries when I'm drinking."

"Don't be sorry, it makes me feel young again." Norma said with a smirk then she watched him eat a few more bites before she spoke again. "Dylan thought you hurt me."

Alex froze his hand midway to his bite and set his fork back down on the platter, keeping his eyes down toward his plate. "Because of the hickey?"

"And the bloody rag I brought to the washroom." She said then he looked over at his hand, wrapped nicely in bandages.

"I'm such an idiot."

"Don't worry about it Alex, we all get stupid when we drink."

"I'm not talking about how I acted while I was drunk, I'm talking about the drinking itself." Alex said, moving the tray aside and sitting on the side of the bed. "I can't believe I didn't think it through better, after what you and the boys went through when Sam was drinking I never should have allowed myself to be like that around any of you."

"But you weren't like him at all."

"Dylan didn't know that." Alex said, raising his voice a little despite the pain it caused to his skull. "All he could think was that I was another guy beating on you when he had too much to drink, same old story. And then what I was doing to you when we got upstairs." He said, wincing at the thought of it.

"Hey." Norma said sternly, taking a seat on the bed next to him and taking his good hand in hers. "There was never any point last night where I felt scared of you." She said, putting her other hand on his cheek and turning him to look at her. "You were plastered but you didn't once act out of control of your actions, and I knew more than anything that you would not hurt me no matter what."

"I still feel awful about it."

"Well don't, we all fall down sometimes." Norma said, running her hands through his hair. "Now finish your breakfast." She said then stood up, leaning in to give him a kiss. "And brush your teeth."

Alex didn't have much of an appetite after what she had told him but he knew she was right, he needed to fill his system with something to help get over the hangover quicker. When he was done he took a shower and brushed his teeth a couple times to get all the signs of the night before off of him then he changed into a clean pair of clothes before heading downstairs. When he hit the last stair he looked over and saw Dylan sitting on the couch watching television. Dylan glanced over at him and he could tell he was struggling to find something to say to him.

"Where's Norman?" Alex asked, walking over to the living room.

"He's in the shower." Dylan replied then Alex took a seat next to him, grabbing the remote and turning down the volume.

"I'm sorry for making you worry last night." Alex said and Dylan looked over at him, noticing how hurt he looked. "I should have never been in that kind of state around any of you and I feel terrible about the whole thing."

"Don't tell me you're sorry." Dylan said, making Alex feel worse that he might still be mad at him, but then he continued. "You don't have to censor yourself for our sake. It was the first time I saw you drunk and I didn't know what to expect, but now that I know you handle liquor in a different way from Sam I am not worried. My family comes from some messed up situations so every first with you is going to be like an exam, it's been that way from the start. I will pay attention to what you do, I might make a few wrong accusations but in the end I'll figure it out. Just like our first night here when you proved to me you weren't like every other guy we've known. So you don't have to be afraid to drink in front of us, or be scared to yell at us if we are doing something wrong. Just don't keep worrying about everything we've been through affecting how we think of you, we know you aren't Sam."

Alex stared at him, amazed by the young boys wisdom. "You are going to be a much better man than I am when you grow up."

Dylan smiled. "I'll be pretty lucky if I can manage that." He said, making Alex smile too. "Although maybe no more hickies, I don't need a reminder of what you two do when you're alone."

"Won't happen again, I promise." Alex said then they sat back and watched the program on the screen.

A little over an hour later they had sent both the boys off to school and Alex walked into the kitchen, looking over at Norma as she cleaned up from breakfast.

"I can clean up, you can rest some before work." Alex said, grabbing the dish rag off the counter.

"I called Maggie and asked for the day off. I thought we could spend some time together, and we get the whole house to ourselves."

"That's actually perfect, I got something in mind we can do."

Norma smirked. "Oh yeah?"

"I was thinking we could start cleaning out the-"

"Cleaning?" Norma said, cutting him off. "Alex, that isn't what I had in mind as alone time." She said then she watched as he looked at her, not saying anything back. "So you can only touch me once you've had a few too many? Am I that repulsive to you now?"

"I'm not repulsed by you." Alex said defensively.

"Then what is it? Because ever since what happened with Keith you have been keeping me at arms length."

"Norma, we don't need to talk about this."

"Yes, we do. You tell me I need to talk to you more and I shut you out but look at you, you won't even tell me what's wrong."

"You want to know what's wrong? I don't know what you are going through right now. And that scares me because I know you so well, but you won't tell me what you're feeling and I can't figure it out. You were raped and it's not something you can just brush aside like it was nothing, you have to be hurting and maybe you can't see that yet but I don't want you to realize it while I'm on top of you."

"Alex, I'm not going to do that." Norma said, stepping closer to him. "Yes, I'm hurt. I'm hurt that he could do that to me, I'm hurt that you had to find me like that, and I'm hurt that you killed him because of me. But none of that is going to change how I am when it's just you and me."

"How do you know it won't?"

"Because it was not the first time I was raped." Norma confessed and Alex's face filled with pain. "It doesn't get easier the more it happens but I've learned that bad things will always happen and you can't let them destroy you."

"Was it Sam?" Alex asked.

"He was one of them, but he wasn't the first."

"Who was?" Alex asked, looking like he was mentally preparing to add them to his hit list.

"I can't- I can't tell you who it was, you won't understand."

"Yes you can, you can tell me anything."

Norma took a deep breath, debating with herself if she was ready to share this piece of her past with someone else. "My brother, Caleb." She said and just when she thought he couldn't look more upset, he did. "When we were fifthteen he raped me, but it wasn't our first time together." She sucked in a breath of air, tears filling in her eyes as she looked away from him. "You are going to think I'm sick."

"I never would think that."

"When I was thirteen I slept with him." Norma paused. "Willingly."

Alex swallowed hard, taking a moment to register what she was telling him. "You were young, it was a mistake."

"No, it wasn't. It went on for years, I loved him. Our parents were terrible, my dad was so violent and my mom was insane, our life was pure hell and he was the only person I had. Once I realized how wrong what we were doing was I told him I wanted to stop, he got mad and he raped me. He's Dylan's father." Norma said then sniffled her nose. "It's a terrible thing to be raped by somebody you love." She said then looked away from him a moment, shrugging to herself. "Now you really know what a mess you are dating, another reason for you not to want me anymore."

Alex reached up and placed his hand on her cheek, wiping the dampness away from where her tears had fallen. "Nothing you've done and nothing you will do will ever make me change my mind about wanting you. And I want you to know that if there is ever a time when you don't want to have sex you don't have to feel like you have to make an excuse, tell me no and I will stop every single time."

Norma wrapped her arms around him, holding on tightly. "How come you are so good to me?"

Alex paused a moment then moved his shoulder so she would lift her head up and look at him. "Because, I love you." He said then Norma leaned in and kissed him, putting her hand on the back of his neck to deepen it. When they pulled apart she remained near him, looking into his eyes.

"I love you too."


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: Okay, I'm just gonna say it, this chapter is (mostly) pure fluff because I felt like they deserved it at this point. I'm glad to hear you guys liked Norma's confession, it was tough figuring out how I was going to do that one. I felt that if I wrote a whole new one it wouldn't do it justice and if I copied it word for word it wouldn't either so I landed on doing it that way. Also I'm really loving the suggestions I've been getting, I do have a couple other stories I'm working on writing out that I've been trying my best to fit in the types of interactions everyone has been liking. Although the one that is more likely to be done first is one that is strictly Normero, as much as I love writing the family stuff it takes place before the kids were around. And then the other one does include them both older than this so you can count on more Norma/Dylan showing up in that one, that is of course if I ever stop being too lazy to write them. But for now just keep letting me know what parts you like from this fic or things you'd enjoy seeing in others and I'll try to get working on them. Enjoy!

After years of watching the physical and mental abuse his father had brought to his mother Alex would often ask his mom why she would put up with it, why she would stay with him. Although entirely different situations Alex now understood what his mom had meant all those times when she told him once you love someone that is all that matters to you, you accept them for all their flaws and they accept you for all of yours. Him and Norma definitely had their own set of flaws, but they choose to look past every one of them. Not more than a couple hours ago Norma had confessed one of her deepest secrets with him, one that could have easily changed another man's mind about their significant other, and yet laying next to her in bed watching her sleep peacefully he could feel nothing but love for her. He hadn't been sure if having sex with her was the greatest way to show her that he still wanted her as much as he always had but like she had said, once it was just the two of them together everything else faded away. He gently pushed the covers off his body and found his discarded clothing on the floor, putting them back on before quietly leaving the room.

Norma woke not long after. She hadn't been sure when she had fallen asleep, the last thing she remembered was being in the comfort of Alex's arms and she must have dozed off. She felt around the bed, looking for the man that was no longer beside her. Sitting up she looked around the room, the light from outside making it clear he was not in there. She stood up and put on her clothes, walking down the hallway and towards the staircase assuming he was in the living room. She stopped when she heard a sound behind the door beside her, Alex had told her before that it was just an extra room he used to store old junk in. Listening closely she heard him clear his throat, knowing now he was inside she opened the door. He was kneeling on the floor next to an open cardboard box, upon hearing the noise he shuffled around and shoved what he was holding back into the box.

"You're up already?" Alex asked, looking over at her standing in the doorway. "I figured you needed some rest."

"Very cocky now, aren't we?" Norma joked, making him smile. "What are you doing in here?"

"I'm clearing out all this junk and bringing it to the garage, that's what I was trying to tell you about earlier. I thought the boys would enjoy having an actual room to sleep in, and there's even enough space to put a divider if they want more privacy." Alex said, gesturing to the center of the room. "You think they will be okay with it?"

"I think they will love it."

"But have you explained to them that you're not just staying here till things calm down, that you are going to live here for good now?"

"Not yet, but knowing how well they have taken to you already they should be fine with it."

"I should have this room ready in a couple days, and once you've told them we can show them it."

"I'll talk to them tonight after dinner." Norma said then walked over next to Alex, looking down at the box in front of him. "So what were you hiding when I came in, you got your old playboys hidden in here?"

"No, I keep those in my room."

Norma smirked. "Really, what do you have in there?" She asked then Alex reached inside and pulled out a photo album. Norma got down and sat next to him on the floor and he sat back and opened the book across their laps. She looked over the pictures on the first page, they were all of a young Latino couple, each photo of them they were smiling and holding onto each other. "That your parents?"

"Yeah." He said then she reached over and flipped to the next page, the photos all coming from the day of their wedding.

"You're mother looked so beautiful." Norma said, admiring the grace she held and the elegance of her white gown.

"I would hope so after how many times I heard my grandfather talk about how much that dress costed him. It was tradition in our family that the father of the bride paid for the wedding and my dad took full advantage of that." He said then she turned to the next page, it was full of baby pictures Norma had to assume was Alex since she knew he didn't have any siblings.

Norma smiled wide looking at the happy little baby boy. "You may be the cutest baby I've ever seen, next to my boys of course." She said, going to the next page of him as a toddler, a couple shots were of him in the tub. "Alright, but I can say you had the cutest baby butt I've ever seen." She said then pointed at one of the photos, laughing. "Look at your little wee wee."

"Okay, let's just get to the next page." Alex said, reaching over and turning the page. She went through photos of him as a kid, growing slowly with each page. It was hard to imagine him having the tough childhood she had been told about, from what she could see he looked like he had the life she had longed for as a kid. She came up to photos of him in middle school, smiling at him in a Van Halen tee shirt.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"It was the eighties, and they're a great band."

"I know, I just didn't realize how cliche you were." Norma said with a smirk. "Were you hot for teacher?"

"Mister Warner wasn't awful to look at." Alex joked and Norma chuckled, reaching for the next page when he stopped her. "I'm not sure I want you looking any further if you are going to keep mocking me."

"What, once we get to the nineties am I going to find a picture of you in a Pearl Jam tee?"

"If you must know, it's Stone Temple Pilots."

"Yeah, but aren't they basically the same thing?"

"Don't even joke about that." Alex teased then she went to grab the page again and he pulled the book away.

"Okay, what are you trying to hide?" She asked with a big smile.

"In high school I went through a bit of a phase."

"Oh, please tell me it was the pink knit sweater wrapped around your shoulders."

"No." Alex said simply.

"Come on, just let me see, I promise I won't tease you."

"Like I believe that." Alex said then she reached over and he finally let her turn the page.

"Oh my god." Norma said, smirking at the pictures of him in a black leather jacket and wavy hair down near his shoulders.

"I thought you weren't going to mock?"

"I'm not mocking, I don't know why you thought I would." Norma said, looking closely at the photos. "You look hot. I wish I had boys that looked like you at my school."

"Even if I told you I wore that jacket for almost a year straight? Summer months included which honestly I don't know what I was thinking."

"If you were around me you wouldn't have spent much time wearing anything, I'll tell you that."

"Well I'll start looking for that jacket after we're done here, maybe it still fits." Alex said then she turned the page, the next few were of him in his senior year of school and at his graduation.

"You're parents look so proud of you." Norma said, looking over at the photo of him arm and arm with them on grad day.

"My mom was, I think my dad was just happy I was finally old enough to leave the house."

"I'm sure he was proud too." Norma said then turned to the next page. The first few were of him with freshly buzzed hair, standing next to his parents. The next ones were of him in a marine uniform, standing with the same stoic expression he used now. "You were in the marines?"

"Yeah. I was stationed at Camp Pendleton most the time, out in Southern California."

"Now if you still have this uniform it might just beat out the leather jacket." Norma said then flipped to the next page. There were a few photos of Alex with his fellow marines then several of him with some brown haired girl, the two of them looking extremely close to each other in every one. "Who's the cute girl hanging all over you?"

"That would be my ex wife." Alex said and Norma looked over at him, surprised.

"Somebody married you?" She joked, smirking at him.

"She was my buddies sister. We met and it was love at first sight, at least we thought that. After two months we were married, then divorced six months after that."

"What happened?"

"I realized how stupid it'd been to marry someone I barely knew so I started intentionally picking fights till one day she left me. I know, really mature."

Norma chuckled then flipped to the next page. It only had a couple photos on it, they were of him and his parents. Their expressions much different than the photos in the rest of the album. "These are the last pictures in the book?"

"Yeah." Alex said, looking at the photos.

"Why didn't you finish filling it? Surely you have taken photos since then. How long ago was this taken?"

"They were from about ten years ago, it was when I came home after my divorce." Alex said, remembering back in his head to the time when the photos were taken. "My childhood was never very good, it wasn't as simple as it looked in these pictures. My father was always so stressed out with work that he tended to take it out on us, my mom took years of his abuse and one day when I was about six years old she snapped. On her good days she would be outside in the yard waiting for me to get off the school bus so I knew when we pulled up and she wasn't out there it wasn't going to be an easy day, but when I got inside it was nothing I had ever expected. I found her on the bathroom floor laying in a puddle of her own blood, she had cut her arms from the wrist up with a razor blade."

"Oh, Alex." Norma said, reaching up to stroke his hair lightly.

"I called my dad and he got her to the hospital. Later that night he left me out in the waiting room with a few nurses while he talked to the doctors. After he came back and told me she was going to be okay, but that she wasn't going to be coming home for awhile. I assumed she was recovering still from her injuries but really my dad had committed her, he couldn't handle her so that was his way of getting rid of the problem. She was doing better a few months later and came back home. I had never been so happy, she seemed like her old self again. She always had this energy about her that just made you think everything was going to be okay. Then a few more months later it started again, most days she'd be sitting right next to me and it was like she wasn't even there. She ended up being in and out of the mental hospital, each time the stay would be longer than the last and when she returned it was never as long as the times before. When I got home after me and my wife split I noticed she was having trouble again. I told my father we needed to commit her but he refused, claiming he could handle her now. Two weeks later she killed herself, put my father's gun to her head and pulled the trigger."

Norma stared at him, unsure of what to say. "I'm so sorry Alex."

"It was a long time ago." Alex said, closing the album and setting it back into the box.

"I don't know how you do it, that you could grow up that way and turn out so good."

"That's what I think about you every single day." Alex said, taking her hand and intertwining it with his.

"Do you think we're doomed?" Norma asked, considering how messed up both of their pasts were.

"No." He said, shaking his head. "I think we are each others reward. We both took so much crap and never got anything in return, maybe what we have is the good parts that we never got."

Norma leaned in and placed a soft kiss on his lips, when they pulled apart she smiled at him then looked around the room. "We should get working on this if you want it done." She said then he stood up and helped her off the floor. "So where should I start?"

"I've gone through all the boxes already so we can start carrying them down to the garage, the piano will be way too heavy for just us to move so I'll get a couple of the guys from work to help me get that out of here tomorrow."

"You have a piano?"

Alex walked over to the large object and pulled a sheet off, revealing an old upright piano. "It was my great great grandmothers, it's been passed down through generations."

"Do you ever play?" Norma asked, running her hands across it.

"When I was younger my mom taught me, but this thing is terribly out of tune now."

"Too bad, I would have loved to hear you play."

"Did you ever play?"

"Always." Norma said with a smile. "My family inherited an old piano once, half the keys didn't work but I found a way to play it."

"Well one day I'll get someone out here to tune this then you can play all you want." Alex said then he picked up a couple boxes. "I'm gonna start bringing these down, feel free to snoop through the rest of my stuff like I'm sure you would have anyways."

Norma smirked. "You know me too well."

A little over an hour later they had everything aside from the piano cleared out, walking back into the room to pick up a few loose items.

"I don't think we have enough time to get anything more done today. Maggie said she has a dresser that should be big enough for the both of them and a couple desks that I can pick up tomorrow." Alex told Norma.

"I can leave work early and go buy the rest of the furniture for it, I still have their mattresses in storage so we'll only need the bed frames." Norma said. "Oh and new bedding, I finally have the money to get them sets that aren't used and mismatched."

"So should we paint too?"

"No, you'll never get them to agree on a color, the beige is fine."

"Then once they are all moved into their room does that mean you will finally start sleeping with me?"

Norma grinned. "Alex Romero, are you doing all this remodeling just to get me into your bed?"

"I'm doing it for the boys. Getting you in my bed would just be a perk."

"I don't know, I'm not sure I like you room enough to sleep in it." Norma joked.

"You were sleeping in there today already."

"But only because you wore me out."

"Then I guess I will have to keep wearing you out."

"Well I'm pretty wide awake now from my nap, I'm not sure I will be able to sleep tonight."

"We'll see about that." Alex said, leaning down and throwing her over his shoulder.


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: I've been meaning to post this all week and am now just getting to it, so sorry about that. A quick little anecdote about this chapter, I was just proofreading it and aside from the beginning and very end I had literally forgotten that I wrote most of this one. I was reading through and it seemed vaguely familiar but I could not imagine the time when I had actually wrote it. And thank you so much for all the feedback, I really appreciate that someone thinks my plots are very original. The most fun I've ever had with this story is going into moments that haven't been explored or created before, be it on the show or in another fic. And even with the parts that have been done before I like adding that little tweak to it to make it my own. Anyways let me know what you think and enjoy!

Living at the motel had given Norma a sense of independence that she always needed. Sure she could do most anything on her own with no problem anyways but she had literally gone straight from her parents house to her first husbands then right to living with Sam afterwards. The few months she spent there really taught her that she didn't need anyone else to take care of her and her sons, she was fully capable of handling it all on her own. Now moving in with Alex didn't have to feel like something she had to do, it was her choice this time. Last night they had sat down with the boys and explained that they were moving in for good this time around, both of them took it extremely well. The next step was to get their room finished, they hurried to get everything done before the boys got home from school today that way it was ready for them to stay in as winter break started. Alex got a lot done before she even got home, he had gotten help from some coworkers to move the piano out and he went and bought a couple captains beds to build on each side of the room, putting their mattresses on afterwards. And he installed a rod across the center of the room with a thick curtain the boys could use as a privacy screen then he put the dresser against the wall in the center of the room so they could both use it. After work Norma stopped at the store and picked out a blue bedding set for Norman and a green for Dylan to match their favorite colors then once she got home she made them neatly onto the beds and set up the rest of the things she had bought. They decided it was best to leave all their things downstairs in the den for now so they wouldn't get suspicious, it was a surprise after all. Getting everything finished with time to spare they went downstairs and started on dinner, they had filled Will in on their plan for the room and he offered to let the boys hang out with Emma till five. Right after they got dropped off they ate dinner together and the adults cleaned up the dishes while the boys went and hung out in the living room.

"Geez, that might be a new record on how quickly you wash dishes." Dylan said, looking over at Alex and Norma as they walked into the living room just a couple minutes after they got out there.

"Well we were excited, we got something to show you." Norma said, smiling wide.

"Are we getting another dog?" Norman asked, excitedly.

"No." Norma said. "One set of dog fur is enough to clean up already."

"What is it then?" Dylan asked, looking as impatient as Norman was.

"You have to follow us first." Norma said, walking toward the staircase with Alex. Both boys got up to follow them to the hallway upstairs, stopping when they got next to a bedroom door.

"Open the door and go inside." Alex said, Dylan taking his permission and opening the door. They walked in one by one and they watched as the boys looked around the room, wearing surprised expressions the whole time.

"This is our room?" Norman asked.

"Yes." Norma said, smiling at them. "It is your new room."

"Is mine the blue one?"

"Yeah, we got your favorite colors." Norma said then he ran over and jumped on the bed, bouncing on it excitedly.

Dylan walked over to where his bed was and ran his hand across his new blanket, looking back at them afterwards. "You guys did this all for us?"

"You're gonna be living here now, you needed a room." Alex said then Dylan walked straight over to them and gave Norma a hug first then Alex. They were both surprised by his show of affection and smiled at each other.

"So you like it?" Norma asked.

"I love it." Norman said, standing up and walking closer to them.

"It's perfect." Dylan said, looking around again.

"Where's your bed mother?" Norman asked.

"She's gonna sleep with Alex."

"Why don't you sleep in our room?" Norman asked, looking at Norma.

"Because when adults move in together they sleep in the same room." Dylan explained.

"But she didn't before and we have been living here."

"That was different, it's official now." Dylan said and Norma smiled over at Alex.

"But will you still have sleepovers?"

"Of course." Norma said then Dylan noticed something and walked over to the middle of the room, grabbing onto the curtain.

"What's this?"

"It's a divider." Alex said. "For when you want privacy, just grab it and pull it across the room." He said and Dylan did as he explained, pulling it till it was just a couple feet from their dresser, leaving enough room to walk beside it.

"Cool." Norman said, walking to the other side and peeking out underneath the curtain. "Hi."

"It's not a toy though, if you knock it down it's not going back up." Norma said and he let go of it quickly, coming back to join them on the other side of the room.

"So are we allowed to play with our slingshots in here?" Norman asked.

"No." Norma and Alex said in unison.

"Can we get a tv in here?" Dylan asked.

"Let's just enjoy what we got at the moment before we start getting more stuff." Norma said. "How about you two go gather up your stuff and bring it up, we can start filling up all the drawers then you can play around in here for awhile till bed."

"Since it's winter break now do we get to stay up later?" Dylan asked.

"You do one nice thing and they start asking for favors left and right." Norma said to Alex.

"Sorry."

"One hour later, that's it." She said then they all went downstairs and got everything they needed. Once everything was put away they left the boys to play in their new room, Norma coming back at bedtime to get them tucked in.

"Goodnight mother." Norman said as she pulled his blanket up over him.

"Night sweetie." She said, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the forehead. She turned around and walked over to Dylan's bed where he was already under the covers, sitting on the side of the bed next to him. "Alex is really glad you guys like your room, he did most of the work to get it done."

"Yeah, I kinda figured you didn't build the beds after that last incident." Dylan said with a smirk.

"That bookshelf was poorly crafted, it wouldn't have held that many books anyways."

"Yeah but it couldn't even stand with one paperback, it would have been a little less embarrassing if it had been a hard cover." Dylan said and Norma smiled, fixing his blanket some for him. "Norma?"

"Yeah?" She said, looking at him.

"When Alex asked you to move in with him you really wanted to do it, right? Because you never have to do anything you aren't ready for just to make sure we have a nice place to live."

"I wanted to, I really love him."

"I know I gave you a lot of crap when we first met Alex but I'm happy he's in our lives now, things seem better. It's like how you always told us everything would be good, I didn't believe you till now."

Norma smiled at him and leaned in, giving him a kiss on the forehead like she'd done with Norman. "Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

The next day Norma spent the day at home with her sons, not having to work herself. She really didn't see that much of them till lunch since they were playing in their room most the time, Alex getting home from work just as they were finishing.

"Hey. We just got done eating, but I can warm up some pasta for you." Norma said, smiling at him as he walked into the kitchen.

"I grabbed lunch at work, thank you though." He said setting a pile of mail on the counter next to her as he leaned in and gave her a kiss, then said a quick hello to Dylan and Norman who were sitting at the island.

"You had a ham sandwich over my pasta?" Norma asked, sucking at her lip.

"Please stop examining what foods I've eaten when we kiss, it's just weird." He said and Norma smiled, glancing down at the mail. A flyer on top caught her eye immediately and she picked it up.

"They are having a big Christmas eve thing going on down in town square." She said, reading the paper.

"They have that every year, it's a big event that all the people in town go to. They have food carts, carolers and all the kids get their picture taken with Santa and his reindeer."

"His reindeer are going to be there too?" Norman asked, a smile spreading across his face.

"A couple of them usually come along, I think last year it was Dancer and Comet."

"Oh mother, can we go?"

Norma looked down at the flyer again. "I don't see why not, sounds like a lot of fun."

"I'm going to go make my list for Santa so it's ready when we go." Norman said, hopping off the barstool and running upstairs.

"I don't understand why you are still letting Norman believe in Santa, he's getting a little too old for it." Dylan said.

"It doesn't hurt him any thinking that he's real, you saw how happy he is about going to see him."

"Isn't it better for him to learn now that not everything isn't magic and fairy tales?"

"Just because Santa Claus isn't real doesn't mean magic isn't."

"My friend Tanner's dad does magic shows for parties, he said they are all just illusions, the bunny was in the bottom of the hat the whole time."

"That's fake too, but magic does exist. You may not be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat, or cut a woman in half, at least not legally." Norma said making both of them smile. "But there is real magic everyday, it's all around us. It's in the air we breathe and the people in our lives, it's apart of each and everyone of us. I don't know about you but I think that's much better than some chubby guy in a red suit flying around the sky."

"I guess so. But doesn't that make it better of a reason to tell Norman instead of letting him believe in things that aren't real?"

"Believing in the things we can't see doesn't make us stupid, it makes us hopeful that there is more out there than we can see."

"Alright, but I'm not taking any pictures with Santa."

"What about Dancer? You could take a picture with him."

"Dancer actually isn't going to make it this year, I heard something about an accident during a reindeer game." Alex said and Norma smirked at him.

"Are you coming with, Alex?" Dylan asked.

"I can't, I have work that day."

"On Christmas Eve?" Norma asked.

"It's one of our busiest times of the year, they need me there."

"What am I supposed to do if I walk under a mistletoe and you're not there to kiss?" Norma joked, placing one of her hands on his side.

"Count how many and get me back later."

"We could just estimate how many I'm likely to walk under and get it out of the way now."

"Good idea."

"I'm gonna go help Norman with his list so I don't have to see anymore of this." Dylan said, hopping off his chair and leaving the room.

"I love messing with him." Norma said with a chuckle.

"We were messing with him?" Alex joked back.

"Well, only sort of." Norma said, leaning in to give him a kiss.

Christmas Eve came up fast, the boys had already been off school five days and they weren't sure how they were going to get them out of that room and back to school once break was over. Alex left for work just before they headed out to get to the holiday event in town, the three of them meeting up with Will, Audrey and Emma once they got there. The event itself was beautiful, everything was decorated and they had games and food for everyone there. Norman's highlight of the whole night was getting to meet the reindeers they had out next to the Santa display, they allowed them to take a picture next to them and Norma even talked the photographer into letting them pet them. Emma and Norman went off with her parents to get cotton candy while Norma and Dylan hit up the funnel cake truck, one of both of their favorite treats. A few bites in Norman and Emma came rushing over to them, followed by her parents.

"Mother!" Norman said, his face scrunched up like he was about to cry.

"What? What happened?" Norma said, going right into the worry mode.

"We ran into Richard from school and he said that Santa isn't real."

"Sweetie, he's just trying to upset you."

"No, he said it's not possible for one man to deliver presents to every single kid in the world in one night when it takes his family six hours to fly to Hawaii." Norman said and she started to wonder if she should just tell him the truth.

"Yeah, but their plane doesn't have what Santa has." Dylan said.

"Why, what does he have?"

"Magic." Dylan said and Norma looked over at him, smiling. "Anything is possible with it."

The rest of the evening went smoothly after that, aside from the belly aches from too much funnel cake. They said their goodbyes to the Decody's then headed back to the house, as soon as they entered Alex got off the couch and walked over by them.

"Hey, what are you doing home already?" Norma asked, giving him a quick kiss. "I thought you were working."

"Actually, I lied."

"What?" Norma asked with a little laugh.

"I made sure that flyer was on the top of the pile so you would see it and want to go, I just needed you out of the house for a few hours."

"Why? What's going on?" Norma asked then he walked beside her.

"Close your eyes, I'll show you." Alex said and took her hand, guiding her toward the den with the boys following next to him. "Stand here, and no peeking." He said, leaving her to go open the divider and expose the den. Dylan and Norman looked around the room and smiled at him then he walked over and took a seat, a few moments later music filled the air.

Norma opened her eyes to see if the sound was what she thought it was and saw Alex sitting at a piano, he looked back at her and smiled. "You got it tuned?" She asked and he nodded, she looked around the rest of the den and it was set up with a big Christmas tree perfectly lit and tinseled. "And you got a tree?"

"It's your first Christmas here, you gotta have a tree. And I left the ornaments off so we can do them all together." Alex said and patted on the bench for her to sit.

"I can't believe you did all this." Norma said, sitting next to him while the boys went over and started decorating the tree.

"I know it's just Christmas Eve but it's the only day I could figure out to do all this." Alex said, watching her set her hands on the piano to touch the keys. "Are you going to play us something?"

"It's been awhile so I'm a little rusty." Norma said and started off, proving that the piano was her equivalent to riding a bike.

"That sounded great." Alex said with a smile.

"You're turn now."

"I just played."

"But I want a full song, not just you banging on keys."

"Well I should warn you my full songs sound very familiar to just banging on keys." He said and set his fingers on the keys. "Do you know how to play Heart and Soul?"

"Any true piano player knows that."

"You want the hard or easy part?"

"The easy one, just because I want to hear you play the hard one." Norma said then she started them off, Alex joining in on his part. They played perfectly together through the whole thing and the boys even stopped to watch them. "Thank you." She said, leaning in to give him a kiss after the song was finished.

Their moment was cut short when Alex's phone started to ring. "Sorry." He said and reached into his jeans, pulling out his cell phone and answering it. "Hello.. Yeah, of course, I can be there in ten.. Yes, really.. Bye." He said and hung up, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

"Is this another one of your secret plans?" Norma asked.

"No, that was Oliver. He wants me to meet him at the dry docks, he said he needs my help with something." Alex said, standing up. "I'm sorry, but you guys can do the tree and I'll be back as soon as I can." He said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss. "Don't set those up too messy, I don't want your mom down here in the middle of the night straightening them all." He said to the boys, making them both smile.

"Even if we put them on perfectly she'll still be down here doing it." Dylan said then Alex walked to the door and grabbed his jacket, sliding it on along with his shoes before leaving. "Good thing he left, now we got time to wrap his presents."

"Let's hurry, he's not going to be long." Norma said and they all hopped up and went upstairs. Their first Christmas was off to a great start already and it hadn't even started yet, they could only imagine what tomorrow would be like.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: I'm very sorry this chapter took so long to get out, I got so busy with the holidays that I barely had any free time. I had really wanted to get chapter thirty-eight out a few weeks ago because that is like the full fledged Christmas chapter, but obviously that didn't work out. I'm gonna try to get the next chapter out way sooner especially since this one doesn't have all the Normero/family bits that everyone enjoys, just a warning this is a Alex centered chapter because back when I was writing it I split my ideas between three different chapters and this one ended up only being with Alex in it. Also this chapter starts out with a flashback to part of his past, I'd never planned on using any of those in this story but once I got to this point I felt a summary wasn't going to be good enough. Like I said I'm hoping to get the next one out quickly so you won't have to wait very long, I'm shooting for having it up in the next few days so we'll see. Thanks for being patient and please let me know what you think. Enjoy!

 _May 1986:_

" _Where's mom?" Alex asked his father as soon as he walked in the front door, having been frantically searching for her around the house for the last ten minutes._

" _Hello to you too." His father said, pulling off his jacket and tossing it aside, leaving him standing in his sheriff's uniform._

" _Where is she?"_

" _She's at Cedar Hills."_

" _You committed her again? Behind my back so I couldn't even say goodbye to her."_

" _I did it behind your back because you always throw a fit whenever I bring it up, and it's not like you can't see her."_

" _In two days, they won't let me see her till forty-eight hours after she gets there. Although how would you know that, it's not like you actually visit her."_

" _Don't spin this into something it's not. She was out of control, she needs to be there right now."_

" _She was just having a rough day."_

" _Yeah, she has a lot of those."_

" _I can only wonder why."_

" _What the hell is that supposed to mean?"_

" _Isn't it obvious? You're the reason that she's like this. It didn't help matters much that you were out half the night yesterday doing god knows what while she was here all alone."_

" _I was working."_

" _Funny how you always seem to work so much yet this town is run down more than ever."_

" _Don't you start criticizing me, you wouldn't know how to control this town if you tried."_

" _Sure as hell would do a better job than you."_

" _You keep thinking that, kid."_

" _I'm not a kid. I'm sixteen, and I'm far more of a man than you will ever be."_

" _Oh yeah, and what makes you a man? You think if you act serious all the time you can hide the fact that you are a weak little punk."_

" _What makes me a man is that I do a better job of taking care of this family than you do."_

" _How so? Do you have a job? Do you pay for this house and every other bill? Because I don't see you contributing much of anything other than hiding out in your room all day."_

" _I'm only in there to get away from you, when you're not here which seems like all the time now I'm the one taking care of mom. I'm the one who makes sure she gets her meds everyday, I'm the one who cooks her meals so she gets enough to eat and I'm the one holding her when she is broke down crying on the floor because her husband doesn't care enough to treat her kindly for one damn minute of his life."_

" _I love your mother more than anything."_

" _You have a sucky way of showing it."_

" _You don't understand Alex. You've never been in love, it's not as simple as you think it is."_

" _I don't have to have been in love to know that what you have isn't it, nobody who loved someone would treat them the way you do. She was so full of life and you are so caught up in your own misery that you take it out on her, you destroyed her and because you aren't capable of fixing her you send her away to be someone else's problem. So you keep believing that committing her to home after home will cure her, if it makes you feel better about yourself that's all that matters, right? Yet one day when she breaks completely and we can't save her you better know it is your fault you piece of shit." Alex got out just before his father struck him across the face._

" _Don't you ever disrespect me, I don't care what you think of me but you will not talk to me like that ever again, I am your father." His dad said as he wiped the blood running out of his mouth onto the backside of his hand, glancing it at before looking back up at him._

" _Yeah, real great father you are." Alex said to him before turning and going into his room._

 _He'd laid in bed for hours thinking, he wished more than anything he had a way to get back at his father for what he had done to their family. Deciding it was crazy to even think about he got up and grabbed his sneakers, slipping them on and walking over to his bedroom window. He opened it up and climbed out onto the yard, closing it back up quietly before sneaking his way past the rest of the homes windows and into the street light lit roads. He walked a few blocks then stopped at a home that held better memories than his own, his best friend of many years house. When he had met Oliver they were only in the third grade, Ollie as he was known as at the time had been home schooled up till that point but his parents felt it was time for him to socialize and enrolled him at Alex's elementary school. Oliver was always very well behaved, he didn't grow up being influenced by other kids so what his parents taught him was all that stuck at first. Everyday he'd come to school with his button up shirt tucked tightly in his Khakis, books in hand and ready to learn, which basically screamed bully magnet. Alex shared the same teacher with him and they had several classes together but they really didn't talk officially until a few weeks into school when Alex noticed a group of fifth graders picking on him in the school yard. As soon as he saw this sweet little kid being tossed back and forth like a pinball he shoved his way through the group of delinquents and stood his ground in front of him, claiming that if they laid another hand on the kid they would have to deal with him. Suffice to say the both of the went home with black eyes that day, but in it they found a true friend._

 _Alex walked over to one of the back windows and tapped lightly on it, he continued till the curtains inside flung open and a not so cheery Oliver looked out the window at him. "Open the window." He mouthed, gesturing for him to open it which he did._

" _Alex, what are you doing here? It's the middle of the night." Oliver said, rubbing his tired eyes._

" _Let's go to our secret spot." Alex said and Oliver stared at him. He noticed right away the bruise on his face but he knew better than to ask about it, they knew each other well enough to know where it had came from._

" _We can't go fishing now, it's one in the morning Alex."_

" _We don't have to fish."_

" _What are we supposed to do then?"_

" _I don't know, we'll clear our heads."_

" _My head is clear, I was sleeping."_

" _Come on, let's go."_

" _We have school tomorrow, and you know I can't concentrate when I don't have proper rest."_

" _We can rest when we're dead, now get your shoes."_

 _Oliver exhaled and turned back into his room a minute before returning to the window with his shoes on. "You know I didn't start breaking rules till you came around."_

Present day:

Alex pulled his car up to the front side of the dry docks building, parking right next to Oliver who had already been waiting there. They both got out of their cars and walked over to each other, stopping in front of their headlights.

"Oliver, what's going on?" Alex asked, looking around to see if he could see anything off.

"I need your help with something." Oliver said, glancing at his surroundings to make sure no one was near them.

"Yeah, you said that on the phone. What is it?"

"I need you to be my look out."

"Look out? Look out for what? We are standing in front of a building that has been closed for hours."

"This place isn't what it seems, there are the last of the remaining workers from your father's business that gather here each day."

"What are you talking about? We shut all of that crap down months ago."

"Not all of it, there were a few people leftover and they found others in town to join in."

"How do you know all of this?"

"They have me working for them." Oliver said then Alex gritted his teeth, shocked by what his partner was telling him.

"I cannot even believe you right now."

"It's not that easy to explain Alex."

"Really? Because to me it sounds like you have become the one person I never thought you could be. Killing Ford was one thing, and I'll even admit it, he deserved to die. But this, this is past the line."

"Alex, please-"

"No Oliver, I'm done, I don't want to be involved with any part of this. I know what I did to Keith was wrong so I shouldn't have any right to judge but I was looking out for someone I love. This kind of stuff I'm not doing."

"These guys don't play around, I can't handle them all by myself."

"Well you should have thought of that before you got caught up in all of this." Alex said with a shrug. "It's Christmas eve, I'm going home to be with my family and I suggest you do the same." He said then walked back to his car, opening the door and climbing inside. Oliver looked at him a moment then took a deep breath and walked to the building, turning and going around the side of it. Alex sat there thinking a minute, he was hurt more than anything but it was his partner and he had helped him in many situations no one else would have. Alex exhaled and grabbed his door handle, opening it a crack when he heard gunshots. He pulled back his door till it shut and looked toward the dark where Oliver had just been when a black sedan floored it away from the building and to the street, he reached over and grabbed the radio he had laying on the passenger side seat and spoke into it. "We have shots fired at Gil's dry docks, send backup immediately. Suspects in a black sedan, I didn't get a plate number." He said then tossed the radio aside and got out of the car, pulling his gun out of the back of his jeans and walking around the building. When he rounded the corner to the back of the lot he noticed Oliver laying on the ground, blood pooling out of him. "Oliver!" Alex shouted, rushing over to him. He shoved his gun in the back of his pants and leaned down, putting pressure on his chest where the wound was. "I called for backup, don't worry, you're going to be okay."

"He tricked me, he wasn't even here, he was supposed to be here." Oliver said, scrunching his face up in pain.

"Who tricked you? Who was supposed to be here?"

"Gil was supposed to be here too. He found out I killed Nick Ford and he was blackmailing me, making me turn away from any illegal activities he had going. I was going to talk to him about an out, I didn't want to be a bad cop anymore."

"Why didn't you tell me this Oliver? I wouldn't have made you go through it alone."

"I was going to, but after you called Norma and her kids your family I couldn't do it. I didn't want to get you killed over something I did, you're the good cop."

Alex shook his head. "Not anymore, when I find Gil I'm gonna kill him."

"No." Oliver said, grabbing onto the hand that Alex had on him. "You arrest him, don't make the same mistake I made. Promise me that, okay?"

"I promise." Alex said, watching as his partner gave him a weak smile.

"I'm gonna rest my eyes till the ambulance gets here." Oliver said, starting to shut his eyes till Alex spoke.

"No, you keep them open. Remember you don't rest till you're dead, and you're not dying tonight."

"You know you're so stubborn that if I do pull through it will be because you told me to."

"You are pulling through this."

Oliver chuckled lightly. "I feel bad for Norma."

"Don't be, she's just as bad as me when it comes to that." Alex said, both of them smiling.

"You're my best friend, you know that?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Come on man, I'm lying here bleeding, at least say it back."

"I don't know, I always kind of liked Brian Fuller better."

"Wait, that's the kid who used to always bring laminated leaves to school?"

"Yeah, I ran into him a few weeks ago and he gave me a good deal on some fruit trees I'm gonna plant for Norma, she wants to start making jams." Alex said and Oliver smirked. "You are my best friend, always have been."


	36. Chapter 36

A/N: Okay I am aware I'm a terrible person, I said a few days and it's literally been a month since my last update. I got tied up with a bunch of unexpected stuff and to top it off I've been sick the last week and really just didn't feel up to proofreading. So for what seems like the millionth time I'm gonna say sorry for the wait and I will try better to get the rest of them up in a more timely manner. As for the last chapter I know it was kinda a sucky one, and this one isn't a whole lot better but I'm thinking you all will like the next one so don't give up hope on this fic yet. We are getting pretty close to the end here with ten chapters left, I'm hoping it ends up paying off for those who have been following along since a year ago when I first posted this. Anyways I'll stop rambling and get to the story, let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex had always paced when he was waiting for someone at the hospital, he had done it all the times they brought his mother in after she had hurt herself or overdosed on the meds her doctor had her maxed out on. His father had once pointed out that it was probably good for him, exercise keeps the heart strong and with all the stress he put on himself he was definitely going to need one of those. He had rode in the ambulance with them and watched as Oliver lost consciousness a couple times, once after his lung collapsed and they had to insert a tube during the ride there. By the time they got to the hospital he was awake again but looked like he was struggling to even hang on. He called Krista right when he got there. She was at their house having supper with her parents where Oliver was supposed to be, instead of lying in a hospital clinging onto life.

Krista came rushing into the waiting room, running right to Alex. "Where is Oliver?" She asked frantically.

"They took him into surgery, he has a collapsed lung and they need to figure out if it hit any other vital organs."

"Oh my god." She said, putting her hand over her mouth. "How did this happen?"

"It doesn't matter right now."

"It sure as hell does, my husband is lying on some operating table and I want to know why."

"Krista you need to calm down, this isn't good for the baby."

"I will calm down when I damn please, tell me what is going on."

"I can't, it's not something I can just explain."

"So this has to do with Nick Ford?"

Alex looked at her surprised a moment before placing his hand on her arm and trying to guide her somewhere more private. "Keep your voice down."

"It is." Krista stated, pulling her arm away from him and staying put. "I should have known this would happen."

"How do you even know about that?"

"Oliver told me. I'm his wife, he tells me everything."

"So you know he was being blackmailed?"

"Why else do you think I would let him leave our holiday dinner? He said he was going to put an end to it tonight, and he said not to worry because you were going to be there with him."

"He didn't tell me he was being blackmailed or that he was there to stop it, I would have been by his side otherwise."

"What are you talking about?" Krista asked, confused. "You were there with him."

"I was leaving, he went to meet with them alone."

"You were leaving him? He asked you to have his back for once and you just left?" She said, raising her voice at him.

"I didn't know-"

"I don't care what you didn't know. He has been there for you during everything and when he needed you you just up and left him?"

"I'm sorry, I wish I could change what happened but I can't."

"If he dies I never want to see you again, I won't forgive you for that." Krista said then walked away from him, likely heading to another waiting room.

Alex finally let everything hit him, sitting down in the chair beside him and shoving his face into his palms to try and calm himself down.

"Alex?" Norma said, getting his attention. He had called her after he spoke with Krista on the phone to let her know what was going on and told her to stay with the boys, that he would be fine on his own. Of course she hadn't listened, he couldn't complain though because as soon as he stood up she pulled him straight into a tight hug and as if it were magic he calmed right down. Norma pulled back, leaving her arms at his sides. "How is he doing?"

"No word yet, all I know is that they took him to surgery." Alex said, his words laced with pain. "Where are the boys?"

"Maggie's at the house with them, she's gonna sleep on the couch till we get home so we can stay as late as you need." Norma said, running her hand up to the back of his head and rubbing his hair gently. "What about you, are you okay?"

Alex bit the his top lip, taking a shaky breath before speaking. "I feel so terrible, this is all my fault."

"Why? Why would this be your fault?"

"Because he asked for my help and I wouldn't do it, I thought the worst of him instead of talking to him about what was going on. He got shot because I let him go alone, I should have been there for him when he needed me."

"This is not your fault, you have to stop blaming yourself for these things." Norma said, trying to talk some sense into him. "You went when he called and you were there to get him help, you did not cause this."

"It sure doesn't feel like it, Krista thinks the same thing."

"She does not. Why would you think that?"

"Because she just told me that she thinks that, right before she stormed off away from me."

"Alex, how long is it going to take you to realize that a woman under stress will lash out at just about anyone?"

"What she was saying was true, Oliver wouldn't have been in this situation if it wasn't for me."

"You don't know that. We can play out a million different what if's in our head but we never really know what would have happened. We accept what comes our way for what it is and we keep going regardless, you taught me that."

"I don't know if I can accept this."

"Deputy Romero?" A nurse said then the both of them turned to look at her.

Alex hurried over to her, Norma following right behind him. "That's me, how is he? How's Oliver?"

"The doctors have got him stable now and he's out of surgery. The bullet passed through his lung which was repaired and went into his spleen then straight out, it ruptured but they were able to remove it without too much trouble."

"So you're saying he's going to be okay?"

"At the moment it looks to be that way." The nurse said then Alex turned to Norma and pulled her into a hug.

"He's okay?" Alex whispered, still in disbelief.

"Yes, he's okay." Norma said then they pulled apart and looked back at the nurse.

"Can I see him?" Alex asked.

"He's in recovery right now and it's going to be awhile before he comes to, but I'll let you know as soon as he is."

"Thank you." Norma told her then she gave them a smile before walking off. She took Alex's hand and lead him over to the chairs, sitting down with him.

Alex remained quiet a minute, playing with her hand that was still intertwined with his. "I'm glad you came, I don't think I could have held it together much longer if you hadn't shown up."

"Hey, you always show up when I'm falling apart and help me, I figured I'd repay the favor."

"This is all so surreal." Alex said, glancing around the room at all the other families waiting for word back on their loved ones. "It's weird the things you think of when you are in here. I remember one of the times I was in here when my mom crashed her car while she was driving drunk. They didn't think she was even going to make it through the night, and it was the first time I ever saw my father cry. It was this really emotional moment but I couldn't stop thinking about that song, ' _Unchained Melody_ '. It was the song my parents danced to at their wedding and when my mom was cooking breakfast that morning she was dancing around the kitchen singing it out loud. Looking at her lying in her hospital bed hooked up to all those machines I couldn't even comprehend how she was the same person I saw earlier that day."

Norma noticed the shaking of his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze to stop it. "What were you thinking about today?"

Alex let out a soft chuckle. "I was thinking it was a good thing I found you."

Norma smirked, thinking he was just being sweet. "What were you really thinking about?"

"That is actually what I was thinking." Alex said truthfully. "Oliver and I met in third grade, we were both outcasts and didn't really have anyone in our lives. Over the years we had made friends but none were like the bond we had together, we get each other in ways no one else did. Towards the end of high school I was so fed up with my father, I just needed to get away from him and away from all the shit he had put me through so I decided I was going to join the marines after I graduated. I think the hardest part was telling Oliver, I didn't want to leave him but I knew it was something I had to do. He wasn't very happy about it either, he told me if I died he was going to be alone. So the next day at school I pulled Oliver over to where Krista was, the two of them both liked each other but neither of them were willing to admit it. I told them they were both being ridiculous pretending they didn't have feelings for each other and that they should just go out already, I had never seen them both turn so red." Alex said with a chuckle. "They stumbled on their words awhile but settled on a date that Saturday, when I walked away I whispered to Oliver ' _There, now if I die you won't be alone'_. When Oliver became sheriff he said with his job in this town the chances of getting killed were about the same as being in a battlefield and that I needed to find a woman so I wouldn't be alone if something happened to him. Today I thought I was really going to lose him, but even so I knew you would be there to help me through it. I wasn't going to be alone."

Alex and Norma spent the next couple hour sitting there, he had wrapped his arm around her at one point and that's where it had remained the whole time afterwards till the nurse walked up to them and they stood up.

"He's asking for you." She said, looking at Alex.

"What room is he in?"

"I'll bring you to it." The nurse said turning away and Alex went to follow her but stopped when Norma let go of his hand.

"You coming?" Alex asked, looking back at her.

"I think you should talk to him first, figure things out."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, tell him I'll stop in after." Alex gave her a quick smile then went back to following the nurse to the room. He froze once he got outside the door, looking inside at his partner sipping at the ice water he had beside him.

"You just going to stand there and gawk at me all day or are you going to come inside?" Oliver said, flashing him a weak smile.

Alex walked inside and over to his bed, sitting in the chair next to him. He had been avoiding eye contact the whole way in till the nurses left the room so when he finally looked up at him he almost broke down all over again. "I'm so sorry." He barely got out.

"For what?"

"For getting you to this point, I made you bend the the rules. First with snooping through the Jacobson's room then helping me put Norma in witness protection, and everything with Keith Summers. You covered up my crimes, I never wanted to put you in a place where you had to do any of that."

"I did all those things willingly, they were my decision." Oliver said seriously. "Believe me when I tell you that you didn't make me do any of that. Maybe we change, or maybe we are destined to be the people we become. Either way I put myself into this mess, not you, and don't you ever feel guilty for the things I've done."

Alex sniffled and pulled himself together more. "So, how did Gil find out about Nick Ford?"

"They got us on video showing up at the marina that day before his time of death."

"I thought you got rid of all their video footage."

"I did but Gil keeps a camera there too, they use it to keep an eye on their sales."

"Why did he just blackmail you then? I was there too."

"He never specified, but I think there's a pretty obvious explanation."

"My dad. You think he told him not to do anything to me?"

"Knowing your father he didn't say a word. But Gil despite being a criminal and an altogether terrible person is also very smart, he would know that if your dad couldn't get you to budge and come over to their side that there was no way in hell he would be able to."

"Well don't worry about him, I'm going to find a way to take him down one way or another."

"Okay, but just make sure it's all above the board. I wouldn't want your first case as sheriff to be a dirty one."

"What?"

"The mayor came into see me awhile ago, I told him I was going to be out of work for awhile but that I had the perfect guy in mind to take my place. As of midnight tonight you will be the interim sheriff." Oliver said with a smile. "Just don't go changing around the office too much, it took me a long time to get the right height on that chair."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, if you thought you had a lot of work before you are in for an awful surprise."

Alex smirked at him. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Don't think you could live without me?"

"Honestly I was more worried what Krista was going to do to me if I got you killed."

"Yeah, she told me she might have lashed out on you a little. She already feels bad about it."

"Well tell her it's alright, I understand where it was coming from."

Oliver looked over at the clock as it hit midnight. "So what are you still doing here sheriff? You got a family at home to spend Christmas with."


	37. Chapter 37

A/N: I was able to keep my word this time and update sooner, I know for a while there I wasn't doing so well at getting them out in a timely manner so let's hope I'm back to my old ways now. I'm sorry about the last couple chapters, they didn't turn out the way I had wanted them to and really just ended up sucking. I'm feeling a little better about this chapter but honestly at this point in the fic I felt like I was losing the ambition to keep it going, luckily I didn't give up but that doesn't mean my writing didn't suffer from that. But for those of you who are still sticking with this story thank you! Let me know what you think and enjoy.

Life was never easy, that was no shock to anybody at this point. Bad things had become like a routine. It always felt like a game they used to have in school where you walk up and pull a piece of paper out of a bag to determine which chore you would do in the classroom, but in this instance it was a bag half full of terrible things that could happen to you and half of good ones. Alex had never been very good at that game, he tended to get stuck with the worst one every time around. It wasn't till the last day when he finally got the best chore in the bag, going around the room with the push vacuum. If his life events were that bag Norma would be vacuuming.

Alex rolled over slowly on his bed, making sure not to wake Norma who was sleeping beside him. He took in every feature of her face and smiled at how peaceful she looked, he reached over with his hand and ran it gently through her hair to move it aside for a better view.

"You're not being very conspicuous." Norma said, opening her tired eyes and smiling at him. Alex scooted closer to her and leaned in to kiss her, wrapping his arms around to her backside and pulling her body close to his. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked with a laugh, pulling back from him some.

"It's Christmas, I'm opening my present." He said, letting his hand drop to the hem of her nightgown and pulling it up some when she stopped him.

"That's not a good idea." She said, glancing behind him at the clock.

"Why?" Alex moved back some, giving her some space till he knew what was going on. "I mean I don't mind, but is something wrong?"

"Because it's a minute till seven."

"I didn't know presents had an expiration time." He said with a chuckle.

"Just watch." She told him then a moment later the clock hit seven and the bedroom door flung open.

Alex looked over at the boys coming inside and rushing over to hop onto the the bed with them. "What is happening?"

"It's Christmas!" Norman said excitedly.

"I told Norman it might not be the best idea to barge in here but he insisted." Dylan said.

"It wouldn't be Christmas without my seven am wake up call." Norma said, looking over at Alex. "They do this every year. I once told them if they woke me up even a minute before seven I would throw all their presents out, they took the time limit very literal."

"So can we open presents now?" Norman asked.

"You know that isn't how this works, first things first." Norma said and opened up her arms, both boys crawled further onto the bed and gave her a big hug. Alex admired the sight of it, even with all the hell he knew their family had gone through he could see Norma every Christmas making sure they had every bit of happiness for at least one day.

"You going to get in here?" Norma asked, looking at Alex.

"It's our Christmas hug, all family is required." Dylan said and Alex smiled, wrapping one arm behind Norma and his other around both the boys.

The morning had been nothing like Alex had ever experienced, first Norma made everyone a huge breakfast then they all went out into the den to get started on presents. He wasn't even sure when Norma managed to get downstairs and place dozens of gifts perfectly under the tree, even adding the ones he had wrapped to the mix. They let the boys go first, each of them getting everything they had on their lists and then some. Norma had noticed neither of them asked for many things this year, probably assuming they didn't have the money for more. But Norma had been taking as many extra hours at the motel as she could and saved up enough to go a little overboard.

"Alright, these ones are from Alex." Norma said, pulling out a couple presents from under the tree and handing them to the boys.

"You got us presents?" Norman asked, looking at the somewhat messy wrapping around the gift.

"Of course." Alex said then both the boys shared a look before ripping into the paper.

"Oh, cool!"

"These are awesome." Dylan said, looking at the Nerf gun sets each of them got. Each package containing a big gun, a small gun and a ton of extra bullets.

"I thought you might like something you could use inside the house, maybe you can stop shooting the slingshots in your room now." Alex said.

"You told him?" Dylan asked, looking over at Norman.

"He didn't have to. Every time I walked down the hallway I could hear those bouncy balls hitting the walls or one of you saying ouch, you hit me."

"Dylan kept aiming at my chest." Norman said.

"Well I would have went for your head but you never stop moving." Dylan said then stood up, walking over and grabbing four presents they had set under the tree yesterday. He walked over and handed two of them to Norma and two to Alex before sitting back down. "Those are from me and Norman."

"Which one should we open first, blue penguins or red reindeers?" Norma asked, looking at the colorful wrapping paper.

"Doesn't matter." Dylan said then she picked up the red reindeers, Alex copying her. "That's from me." He said then they both ripped off the paper and opened up the blank box to find what was inside, pulling out some tissue paper before getting to it. They made sure to pull it out at the same time and looked it over. They were handmade coffee cups with each of their names on them. "They let us make two cups each in class, I'm not sure if I'd trust it to actually use cause it might break into a million pieces."

"What are you talking about, these look amazing." Norma said, rubbing the sides of the cup which were perfectly structured. "I love it, thank you Dylan."

"She's right, these are great. Thank you Dylan." Alex said, gently setting it back inside the box.

"Open mine now." Norman said, smiling wide.

"Alright." Norma said then they grabbed the blue penguins and opened them up. Inside was a hand painted clay Christmas ornament, Norma's was in the shape of a music note and Alex's was a dog. "This is very cute, thank you Norman."

"Is this Chevy?" Alex asked and Norman nodded excitedly. "You know this is perfect because I was just thinking our tree was missing something." He said then stood up, reaching over to get Norma's too before walking over to the tree. He placed them both in clear view and backed up, looking over their first Christmas tree together. "There, that was it."

"Hey, do you guys know there are still a few presents under there?" Dylan asked, smiling because he knew from the fancy wrapping on each of them who they were for.

"Why don't you grab them out." Norma said then both the boys went under the tree and got them, setting a few each in front of Norma and Alex.

"I guess I should have made sure we had even amounts." Norma said, looking at her three gifts next to his two.

"I'm sure I'll love them no matter how many there is." Alex said with a smile. "You can open one of yours first."

"Any particular order?"

"Any way you like." Alex said then Norma picked up the smallest one, a very thin rectangular object. She grabbed a corner of the wrapping paper and gently ripped it open, pulling a photograph out from inside.

"A picture of some trees?" Norma asked.

"Guess you don't have to worry about buying him less presents." Dylan joked.

"Dylan." Norma said, trying not to chuckle and Alex smiled over at him.

"They aren't just any trees, they are fruit trees. It's better to plant them in the spring so you don't run the risk of the ground being frozen, but once it's warm enough those are your trees."

"I always wanted fruit trees so I could make my own jam."

"I know, I remember you talking about it once." Alex said, earning a smile from her. "So which one should I open first?"

"Oh, do the big one." Norman said.

"You don't even know what's in it." Dylan said.

"That's why I said to do it first, I want to see."

Norma nodded at the big one and Alex grabbed it, picking slowly at the wrap just like she had done to mock her. "You're hilarious."

Alex smiled and quickly tore the paper off, revealing a box under it. "I always wanted a big brown box with car tires drawn on it."

"It was the only empty box that I could find, the boys used to play with it."

"And it's not just tires, there are headlights on the front too." Dylan pointed out.

"But no licence plates?" Alex asked.

"It wasn't really a problem when we didn't live with a cop."

Alex smiled and got up on his knees, pulling out his pocket knife to open the box with. Once it was open he looked inside and pulled out one of the boxes, it was a fishing rod. "You picked this out?"

"Well technically I made the guy at the store pick it out." Norma confessed. "He offered to give me pointers on which one to buy but I told him just to grab whatever one he thought was best for it."

"This is perfect." Alex said then pulled out the other box the was a complete tackle box set.

"I know you already have some fishing stuff-" Norma said then Alex cut in.

"These are much better than the old ones I have. Although Oliver is going to be upset when he sees that I finally have a better rod than him." Alex said, setting everything back in the box and moving it aside. "Your turn again." He said with a smile.

Norma grabbed the medium sized gift next, opening it up. Inside was a large velvet box, when she opened the lid she saw a pearl necklace inside. "This is beautiful." She said, lifting it out of the box and holding it up.

"I had some outside help picking mine out too." Alex said, glancing over at the boys.

"We told him about the one you got from your grandma, that one you always used to wear before it got stolen when we had the break in at the old house." Dylan said.

"I love it." Norma said, holding it up to her neck. Alex leaned toward her and grabbed the backs of it, clipping it together for her. "Thank you."

"It looks amazing on you." Alex whispered to her before sitting back down and grabbing his next present, a somewhat large rectangle one. He ripped it open and pulled the cover off of the box inside then pulled out a brown leather jacket, smiling over at Norma.

"I thought about getting you a black one to match your old one but the brown looked like more of your style now." Norma said and Alex threw it around him and put his arms inside. "It fit good?"

"Yeah, it fits perfectly. It's gonna be tough to get me out of this one now."

"We'll see about that." Norma said with a sly grin.

"There are children present here, if you haven't forgotten." Dylan said.

"Did you hear something?" Alex asked, pretending to look around.

"I can't really hear anything around me when I'm looking at you in that jacket." Norma said.

"Alright you two have had your fun, can you just open your last present so we can have lunch already?" Dylan asked and they both smiled at him.

"I'll take it off so your mother will stop staring at me." Alex said and pulled it off, setting it back in the box. "Thank you, Norma." He said and gave her a quick kiss.

"Okay, let's see what's in this one." Norma said and grabbed the last gift, opening it up to a plain brown box.

"Sorry I didn't have time to color on it." Alex said, handing her his pocket knife.

Norma smirked and opened up his knife, cutting the tape off. She reached in and pulled out one of the bubble wrapped items, pulling it off to see what was inside. "Are these what I think they are?" She asked, opening up another one.

"Yeah." Alex said then the boys looked at them curiously.

"What are they?" Dylan asked.

"Glass frogs." Norma said, showing them off. "On our first date we went to an event in town and they had an auction. Everyone was guessing which thing would go for the most and I told Alex it would be the glass frogs, which it ended up being."

"Well who wants some dumb tractor figurines over glass frogs?" Alex joked.

"How did you ever get these?"

"The lady who bought them is the mother of one of my officers, I went and asked her if I could buy them from her. She hustled me though, I had to pay almost twice as much."

"This is the most thoughtful gift I've ever gotten."

"Hey, I handmade my gift." Dylan said.

"Me too." Norman added.

Norma smiled at them both. "Aside from your gifts of course."

"Well I just wanted us to have something to always remember from our first date."

"Thank you, Alex." Norma said, setting them back in the box. She scooted over and gave him a kiss then went over to both her sons and gave them a peck on the cheek.

After lunch the four of them went into an all out Nerf gun war through the house. Norma paired with Norman, and Alex with Dylan. They let the kids use the big guns while they stuck with a smaller ones. The rules were simple, one hit meant a point to your team. They were currently tied up at nineteen points.

"Stay down lower." Dylan whispered to Alex as they hid behind the loveseat.

"I'm a grown man." Alex whispered back. "If I go down any lower I'll just be laying on the ground, unable to move."

"And you call yourself a marine."

"Just get to the dining room, I'll cover you." Alex said then Dylan sped walked to the dining room and hid behind the table, he was about to follow when there was a knock at the door. He stood up straight and walked over to the foyer, opening the door.

"Romero." The man at the door said.

"Mayor Chambers." Alex said, greeting the man. He watched him glance down at the nerf gun he still had in his hands. "Sorry, I'm playing a game with my girlfriend and her sons." He said, setting the gun down on the bench.

"I'm sorry to bother you on Christmas."

"Not a bother at all, what's up?" Alex said then he felt a foam bullet hit him in the back of the neck, he turned and saw Norman standing there with a smile. "Time out soldier, the mayor is at the door."

"Norman, Dylan, time for a break." Norma told them. "Come on, let's go get set up to make those cookies." She said and they followed her into the kitchen.

"Sorry about that." Alex said.

"It's alright, they look like a nice bunch."

"They are." Alex said with a smile.

"You mind if we step outside a moment?" The mayor asked and Alex nodded, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind him. "You know I've spoke with Oliver several times, each one he couldn't speak highly enough of you."

"We've been friends a long time."

"So I heard." Chambers paused. "He told me something that I didn't expect, something you had been keeping a secret."

"Really?" Alex asked, suddenly worried. "What's that?"

"That you were the one who found the evidence for your father's case, you were the one who caught onto him in the first place."

"I'm sorry we lied about it, I didn't think it would have went as well if it came from me."

"No need to apologize, I understand the situation you were put in. It was very noble of you to give that victory away, it says a lot about the kind of officer you are." Chambers said then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge. "I'm sure Oliver already told you but I felt it was right for me to bring you this in person." He said, setting it into the palm of Alex's hand. "Alex Romero, you are officially White Pine Bay's interim sheriff."

"Thank you sir." Alex said, closing his hand around his new badge.

"I know this is something you surely have thought about but I wanted to give you one order."

"Of course, anything."

"Find the bastard who shot Oliver, no one is getting away with harming any of my officers."

"I will, it's my top priority."

"Enjoy the rest of your holiday." Chambers said, stepping off the porch.

"You too sir." Alex said then watched as he got into his car and drove off. He looked down and opened his hand back up, looking at his sheriff's badge. He turned around and headed back into the house, walking straight to the kitchen.

"What did the mayor want?" Norma asked.

"He wanted to come over and give me this in person." Alex said, holding up his badge. "It's official, I'm the interim sheriff."

"Congratulations." Norma said, walking over and pulling him into a hug.

"Now we're really going to have to work on your ability to crouch, you're gonna be a walking target." Dylan said and they all glared over at him. "Oh, and congrats."

"Thank you Dylan." Alex said.

"So does this mean you get to take the sheriff's car home like Oliver did?" Norman asked.

"I suppose I could."

"Cool, can we drive it too?"

"No!" Norma said. "You need to be fifteen to drive."

"But if we are driving a sheriff's car we aren't going to get pulled over."

"He makes a good point." Alex said then Norma looked back at him.

"Don't think I don't have the power to get this job taken away from you, I don't care if you just got it."

"Alright, no driving till you're fifteen." Alex told the boys.


	38. Chapter 38

A/N: Hey! I know what you are thinking, is this slow updating going to be a thing? And the answer is yes, because I'm lazy. I've been meaning to proofread this for the last week and just finally I am getting around to it. Then I also have bits and pieces of the other chapters that I have yet to write so it might be longer between updates now and then. So this chapter is gonna kinda be the last of the Alex's case centered ones and the remaining ones are gonna be based around Normero, the family and their friends. And to the reviewer asking for some Normero loving there won't be smut, but I think you will really enjoy the next chapter. So let me know what you think and enjoy!

It wasn't often in life that Norma got the things she wanted, and it's not that she minded at all. She had always cared more about giving everyone else what they needed and taking whatever was left, if anything. Growing up her family never had money. Whatever the county gave her parents to spend on their kids went to paying god knows what. But she took what she could get and made the best of it, never worrying that what she had wasn't good enough. In high school she had a friend whose mother owned a fabric shop. After school they'd go and help her out in return for a meal, a bit of cash and any of the fabric scraps she wanted to have to sew her clothes with. That was the first time she realized that if you wanted good things you would have to work for them, and even then you are left with the scraps.

"What's that?" Alex asked, walking up behind Norma who was standing in the kitchen reading over something in the mail.

Norma glanced back at him, looking around from where he had came from. "When did you get here?"

"I was already here. I heard you come inside and came downstairs."

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"What? You're not happy to see me?" Alex joked.

"No, I'm just wondering why you're home during your shift."

"I forgot my binoculars. I'm on my lunch break so I decided to come grab them."

"Why do you need binoculars?" Norma asked with a chuckle. "You going bird watching?"

"They're for work, it's a long story." Alex said, looking back at the paper in her hands. "So what is it you were staring at?"

"I got my bank statement in the mail, the deposit from the sale of my house went through." Norma said, showing him the new amount.

"That's a nice chunk of change."

"Yeah, I wish I had known it was in so soon. I would have picked out better Christmas gifts for everyone."

"What are you talking about? Everything you got was perfect."

"Really?"

"Yes, and the boys loved their stuff. Now you can use that money for something you want and save the rest. Weren't you saying you wanted to buy a new car?"

"I was thinking about it. I mean my car is a ticking time bomb at this point, but I know nothing about buying cars. The only reason I picked my station wagon was because our other car broke down and it was the only car I could find in my price range."

"I know about cars, I can go with you to the dealership here in town."

"You would?"

"Yeah, of course. The salesmen are annoying but the cars coming out of there are always top of the line and reasonable priced."

"I guess we could go and look around, I'm not sure if I'm ready to commit to anything yet."

"I should be off work by six, it doesn't give us much time to look around but we could meet there if you want."

"That works for me, the boys are staying over at Emma's till nine tonight so Norman and her can work on some school project."

"Okay, I will see you there." Alex said then leaned in a gave her a quick kiss.

"Don't you want lunch before you go back?"

"Nah, I wasted too much time looking for these." Alex said, holding up the binoculars. "I'll grab something to eat at the office."

Alex's long story was actually quite brief, but he wasn't going to talk about it till he knew he had something concrete. He had spoken around with one of his dad's old buddies who had an axe to grind with Gil and gave up a few names of his biggest employees. Alex did the rest of the digging to find out which guy was experienced enough to handle their surveillance equipment. Only one fitting the requirements, a man by the name of Jerry Martin. He worked at Gil's warehouse but going there and waiting for him would make Alex a walking target for the men guarding the place. So he took a different approach and decided to tail him till he got somewhere he could get easier access to him. That brought him to Jerry's cabin, a nice piece of acreage with a great view of the lake and it's own private boat dock. Alex watched as he gathered up some fishing gear from his shed, quietly he stepped out of his car and got closer. He followed behind him as he walked over to the docks, staying back while Jerry set his things on the boat then hopped back onto the dock to untie the ropes.

Jerry looked over and noticed Alex for the first time, stopping in place. "Sheriff, what are you doing here?"

"I'm gonna cut right to the point, your boss has footage from the marina and you're gonna get it for me." Alex said nonchalantly.

"Ah, I'm not sure what you are talking about. What footage?"

"Don't give me that bullshit. Just tell me how to get a hold of it and there won't be a problem here."

"I'm being honest, I have no clue what you are talking about." Jerry said, clearly lying.

Alex smirked at his attempt to play stupid, glancing around at the property. "How many acres you got here, thirty?"

"Thirty-four." Jerry said, unsure of where this was going.

"That's a lot of land."

"What are you getting at?"

"I'm just thinking about the advantages, I mean there is not even another house in sight. See I have neighbors nearby so I have be careful about how loud I'm being, out here you could scream all you wanted and no one would ever here you." Alex said, taking a step toward him and watching him tense up. "And this lake, look at the view. Couldn't you spend forever out in that water?"

"If I help you Gil will kill me. So what's the difference?"

"Don't worry, if you help me Gil's not going to be a problem for anybody anymore."

"You're gonna kill him?"

"Well, that's still to be decided." Alex waited a moment for him to say something back, when he didn't Alex grabbed for the gun on his holster.

Jerry noticed what he was going for and spoke up. "Okay, Okay." He said and Alex stopped. "I'll get you the footage."

Alex went with Jerry out to his house, he had the surveillance discs stored in his safe so it didn't take long to get. Before leaving with the discs Alex warned him that if he gave Gil any warning about this that he would find him again and next time he wouldn't keep his gun put away. He ran back to the office quick and put the discs in his safe, that way tomorrow when he got in he could go over them and decide how he was going to go about getting Gil for it. His venture made him about ten minutes late for meeting up with Norma at the car dealership, but when he pulled up he saw her walking around the lot. He got out and hurried over just as a salesman was targeting her.

"Can I help you find a new car, miss?" The man said, a smile plastered across his face.

"I'm just looking." Norma replied kindly.

"With the sales we are having there's no need to just look. What type of car do you want? I'll set you up, you can be driving off this lot with your new ride today."

"I'm really just lo-"

Alex cut in, walking up beside them. "We're gonna browse around first, if there's something we like we'll let you know."

"Of course." The man said, backing away from them. "If you want to test drive anything just come inside and ask for Michael."

"Thank you." Norma said as he walked away then she glared over at Alex. "You're late."

"I know, I got finished as quickly as I could."

"That was the fourth salesmen that came up to me since I got here. The second one tried talking me into buying a mustang, like that is a car I'd ever buy."

"You should have waited in the car, you show up here alone and you're like roadkill to the vultures."

"I like that we've gotten to the point in our relationship that you can compare me to a dead animal on the side of the road and I don't want to slap you for it."

"If that isn't love I don't know what is." Alex said, placing his hand on the small of her back. "We should look around before someone else tries to sell us something."

"I'm sure you can intimidate them away again." She said as they started walking the lot.

"So what kind of cars do you like?"

"I don't really have a preference, just something that has enough room for everyone." Norma said, looking over at some of the newer model vehicles. "And nothing too flashy, I don't need all those power options."

"Well we should probably stay away from the two thousands then." He said, glancing further down the lot. "They keep all their used and trade in vehicles down at the end, maybe we can find something you like there."

"Yeah, let's try that." Norma said and followed him to the end of the lot. There were a good amount of cars, but her eyes immediately landed on a green sedan. She walked up to it and ran her hand across the hood. "This is it, this is my car." She said, smiling back at Alex.

Alex walked over and read the writing on the windows. "Nineteen seventy-three? That's older than the station wagon you have now."

"But this is a Mercedes Benz, my friends mom taught me how to drive in one of these." Norma said then opened the driver side door, looking inside. "Oh, it's still got the original wood detail on the dash."

"I thought you said you didn't know anything about cars."

"Most cars, but this was my dream car when I was younger." She said, sitting in the front seat.

"Here, pop the hood for me." He said then she reached down and pulled the lever to unlatch it.

"What are you looking at?" Norma asked, getting out and standing next to him.

"Everything." Alex said while he started tinkering around. "You wanna make sure the frame lines up correctly, if it's bent it's been crashed before. Then check hoses and belts, any areas where it looks like fluids might have leaked, then fluid levels and their color."

"When I bought my station wagon the only thing I checked was if it had enough gas to get me home, the gauge on it never worked."

"It's a wonder it lasted as long as it did." He said while he continued to check the car over.

"Where'd you learn all this stuff anyways?"

"While I was in the police academy I worked at a car shop. It was mostly oil changes and tire rotations but they gave me training on all the basics."

"You were working and going to the academy at the same time? Isn't that like a full time job in itself?"

"Technically yes, but they don't pay you during police training and I had bills to pay."

"You were living on your own then?"

"Oliver, Krista and one of her friends were renting a house and they let me move into an extra room there. They knew I was having a lot of trouble living with my dad after my mom died. The extra work was worth it to get away from him, then by the time I moved in with them I had just gotten used to working all the time." Alex said, then wiped his hands off on his pants. "That's everything."

"So how does it look?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it." Alex said, shutting the hood.

"Do you think it runs?"

"Only one way to find out, I'll go get the keys." Alex said, watching Norma smile as she looked around the car a moment before walking off. When he got back with the keys she was around back looking in the trunk.

"Look at this trunk, it's huge." Norma said then he glanced in it.

"Yeah, looks like you could fit a good sized body in there if you needed to." He said and she chuckled.

"I was thinking more along the lines of groceries."

Alex held up his hand, the car keys dangling from them. "Wanna give it a try?"

"Like you even have to ask." Norma said and grabbed the keys from him, heading over and getting back into the drivers side. "You getting in?" She asked, looking at Alex who was still standing outside.

"I want to hear how it starts from out here."

Norma nodded then stuck the key into the ignition, starting it up. "Well it starts, that's a good sign so far."

"Sounds good too." Alex said, listening closely.

"Then get in." Norma said. He walked over and got into the passenger seat then she put the car in drive and took off.

What started as just looking around turned into Norma leaving the lot with that very car, and even though it was a big step to take she couldn't be happier with her choice. She'd also been glad when Alex told her not to do the trade in with her old car because they wouldn't offer nearly enough for it, that he would help her sell it so she'd get what it was worth. Even having the new car she wasn't prepared to leave it there today. Not only did it still have their stuff inside it but she wanted to give it the proper goodbye before she got rid of it. She wasn't sure if it was going to be something the boys would like but when she picked them up from Emma's in it she was surprised they actually thought it was cool and said they enjoyed the extra room it had.

Alex was happy he had been able to see her experience buying her dream car, he felt if anyone deserved it it was her. He also knew the next few weeks he wasn't going to be around much with his new job position so it was nice to be able to give her one night of his time before diving back into his work. It was the morning after and he went into work early in the morning before the sun had even rose, wanting to get started on reviewing the tapes Jerry had gave him. By mid afternoon he had everything he needed in place then dropped by Gil Turner's warehouse for a visit.

Gil walked out of his work and headed toward his car, stopping when he saw Alex standing beside it. "Sheriff." He said with a grin. "What can I do for you?"

"You can put your hands behind your back." Alex said, stepping toward him and pulling the gun out of the back of his jeans and slipping it into his own.

"And what is this arrest based on?"

"Don't try to pretend Oliver's shooting wasn't your idea, you may not have been the one behind the trigger but I know that was all you. He wasn't going to help you anymore so you didn't see the use in keeping him around."

"Well you got me there. It's just too bad you can't do anything about it, with me having proof of you and your buddy showing up to Ford's yacht on tape."

"And while your footage is only circumstantial it does seem to beg the question. Why do you have a camera there in the first place?"

"I didn't trust the marina security. After all there was a lot of thefts going on as of late, and I heard a rumor that a couple officers shot a man there."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, you can never really trust anyone. Take your staff for instance. A simple threat toward their well being and they are willing to throw anyone under the bus, even their boss."

"What?" Gil asked curiously.

"Always got to be careful who you let have access to your cameras. Now I've got a hold of the footage and I have only watched some of it but already I've seen enough for you to be implicated in at least sixteen crimes, including blackmailing an officer."

"You realize if you arrest me there is nothing keeping me from exposing what you and your partner did?"

"Oh but I bet there is something. Not only have I destroyed every piece of evidence you had against Oliver and me but I also happen to know you've had your sister moving product for you by boat. I suppose she needed the money with her husband passing and her son serving the next few years in prison for armed robbery. She's got that sweet little girl though, Jodi is it? What a shame it would be if she went to prison too, who would take care of your niece?"

"You wouldn't."

"You saw the tapes, you know I'm capable of much worse." Alex said, staring straight at him. "So what do you think? Either way you spend your life locked away, but is taking me down really worth destroying your family over?"

Gil shook his head at him with grimace. "You're nothing like your father, he would never allow a personal vendetta to get in the way of business."

"I'll take that as a compliment, now turn around and put your hands behind your back." Alex said, pulling out his handcuffs. He spent the next few hours processing him and making sure they found him a placement in a high security prison far from his town, not wanting him to be close enough for any of his workers to care about visiting him. He only had one stop to make before he headed home for the evening, pulling up to a home in his neighborhood and walking up to the front door. It opened not long after he knocked and Krista stood looking at him.

"Alex." She said awkwardly, not knowing what else to say.

"Hey, I came to talk to Oliver about some work stuff. If that's okay?"

"Of course, come on in." Krista said, opening the door for him.

Alex walked inside and looked around while she closed the door, noticing the pieces of an unbuilt changing table on the living room floor. "That for the baby or Oliver?"

"The baby." Krista said with a grin. "Oliver's is much bigger."

"You didn't want to wait till he could help you build it?"

"I got bored and it was sitting out here, thought I'd see if I could figure out how to put it together."

"And how is that going?"

"Well I gave up a couple hours ago and took a nap instead, I just haven't had the energy to pick it back up."

"I can put it together for you." Alex said, picking up the instructions off the ground.

"No Alex, you don't have to do that."

"I don't mind. I used to build all of your furniture before Oliver learned how to use a screwdriver."

"You did?"

Alex kneeled down and started gathering the parts he needed for the first step. "Back when you first rented that house on Cedar Avenue he snuck me over while you were at work to build that new bedroom set you had bought."

"I told him I would have hired someone if he didn't know how to do it."

"He didn't want you to waste the money on that. Besides he thought it would make him look less manly."

"If he wanted to look manly he shouldn't have had a whole cabinet dedicated to his dolls."

"Believe me I tried to talk him out of keeping action figures for years. But you know Oliver, no matter what I said or how much I teased him for it he wasn't going to change his mind about them. He's set in his ways."

"Is that what you were trying to do that night, change his mind?"

Alex set down the pieces he had been connecting and looked up at her. "I've done a lot of things in my life that are less than ideal, and I never really had a problem with doing any of them. He was never like that, everything he did affected him in some way. I always admired that part of him. So when I saw what Riley's case was doing to him, how it was making him more like me I got worried. Because I hate that part of myself and I never wanted to see that in him. And I guess I could have gone about it a better way, but I was upset. I thought there was no hope in getting the person I knew all my life back and I didn't want to stick around to see him like that. It's was selfish of me and by the time I came to my senses it was already too late, I was on my way back out of the car when I heard the shot go off."

"You were going back?"

"I couldn't just leave him there, he never would have left me." Alex said, going back to working.

"I'm sorry for what I said to you at the hospital, I know it wasn't your fault he got shot. I think my hormones were just getting the best of me."

"It's alright, it was a stressful situation."

"But I still shouldn't have blamed you, you have always been there for him."

"Well that's what best friends are for."

"I thought Brian Fuller was your best friend." Oliver joked, walking slowly into the living room.

"What are you doing up?" Krista asked, going over to help him to the couch.

"I heard voices out here and I wanted to make sure you didn't sneak your new lover in while I was lying in bed injured." Oliver said while he carefully sat onto the sofa.

"No, I snuck him out right before Alex got here."

"It's true, I saw him climbing out the window right after I knocked." Alex said.

"She call you over here to put you to work?" Oliver asked Alex.

"No, I came here to see you actually. I have some work stuff to discuss with you."

"I'll leave you two alone to talk." Krista said, leaving the room.

"Should I be worried?" Oliver asked. "You didn't burn down the station already, did you?"

"The station is still standing. I just wanted to let you know that Gil isn't going to be a problem for us anymore."

"Oh god, what did you do to him?"

"I arrested him. With all the charges he's looking at life in prison."

"Really? How did you manage that?"

"I got a hold of the tapes he had at the Marina. Destroyed every trace of us being there early that day, and told him if he ever told anyone about us that I would put his sister away too." Alex said and he could tell Oliver looked a little disappointed with how he had gone about it. "But don't worry, taking down Gil will be the last thing I do that isn't completely by the book. I promise."

"I thought you never made promises."

"I never made them when I wasn't sure if I could keep them."

Oliver smiled at him. "Thank you for handling Gil."

"It was the Mayor's orders so I had to do it either way." Alex joked. "No one hurts my friend and gets away with it."

"Well on the plus side me being shot gave me a good excuse to get out of Bob's new years party this year."

"If you're getting a silver lining out of all of this not having to see Bob with half naked women in his lap is a good one." Alex said making him smirk.

"Are you going?"

"No, I'm gonna pass this year."

"You sure? He was saying how he had a sexy redhead to introduce you to." Oliver said just as Krista walked by and shot him a glare on her way to the kitchen. "His words hun, not mine."

Alex smirked. "As awful as that sounds I'm gonna stay at home with Norma and the boys. They are shooting off fireworks out by the high school again this year so we'll be able to see them from the backyard."

"No fancy parties, just a night at home celebrating. Alex Romero, could you be growing up?"

"Well to be clear I already hated those parties every year."

"I can see you a few years from now spending the holidays with your family, probably have a few kids of your own by then."

"Lets not get ahead of ourselves, I'm not even sure Norma wants anymore kids."

"You haven't talked about it yet?"

"There really hasn't been a good time to bring it up between everything that has happened. Who knows if Norma wants to get married again, she's already gotten divorced twice and I know how bad those marriages were for her."

"Those marriages didn't work because her husbands weren't good for her, you are."

"It doesn't always feel like I am."

"Trust me, I've seen you two together and never have I seen a better pair." Oliver said as Krista walked back out from the kitchen and past them. "Besides us of course." He yelled out as she got out of sight. "She really has the worst timing."

Alex smiled. "Can you really see me married?"

"You were before."

"And you saw how that turned out."

"I knew that marriage was never going to last, I told you that from the beginning. Honestly I could never see you being married till I saw you with Norma, I knew right away she was the one for you."

"It was that strong." Alex said, mimicking his words from the first time he saw them together at the station.

"It really was." Oliver said with a smirk.

Alex looked at his watch. "Can you tell Krista I'll stop by tomorrow after work to finish this? I want to get home before they all go to bed." He said as he stood up off the floor.

"Leaving so soon? I was under the impression you were going to give me a sponge bath afterwards."

"I'll leave that for your wife to do. See you later buddy." Alex said before leaving.

Later that night after they had all gone to bed Alex laid awake in bed next to a sleeping Norma, thinking to himself about what Oliver had said. He knew he wanted a future with her, that was obvious at this point. And he loved having Dylan and Norman in his life, they weren't his but he felt like he connected with them in a way their own fathers were never able to. But marriage and kids, those were things he was going to leave for another night to think about.


	39. Chapter 39

A/N: This is going to be a bit of a sappy authors note but I wanted to put this out there. Everyone on here has been so sweet to me and so supportive of this story, and I know I have said this a million times but I am so thankful for that. I've joked a bit about not updating as quickly cause I'm lazy, but really it's because I haven't worked on this story in months after I started struggling to stay motivated. The last few days though I have been working on the unfinished parts, and seeing how people are still caring about this fic had kinda brought me back into the enjoyment of it that I was missing. So I really do appreciate how even when I'm being slow with updates or my chapters don't have quite as much effort put into them as others you still stick around and root me on. Also side note, feel free to tell me to update. It doesn't bug me or put pressure on me and all. I love that you are eager for more, it reminds me I must be doing something right. Let me know what you think, enjoy!

Sleeping next to Alex was like a dream. Norma never could have imagined the sense of security another person could give her till she laid in his arms. Even on the nights when he'd come in late after work he made sure to be as quiet as possible not to wake her. And once he was on the bed he'd kiss her on the cheek and wrap his arm around her. He still didn't know that she knew he did that or how much it meant to her. With Sam she never had that, if he came home late he was reeking of bourbon and on occasion another woman's perfume. It had happened more times than she would like to admit. The first time she noticed it she was heartbroken, she kept wondering what she had done wrong that he needed to find comfort in someone else's arms and what she could have done differently. But the more it happened the less she cared. Nothing she ever did was going to be enough for him, and luckily now she never had to worry about that again because aside from Alex's obsession with work he was fully devoted to her.

Norma's head rested on his chest and she felt his breathing pick up, something she had learned he did when he was starting to wake up. She loved how much she knew about him, and secretly hoped no one else had picked up on the little things she would always catch onto.

"You awake?" Alex whispered, his voice half asleep.

"Yes." She said, tilting her head up to look at him. "Do you know what kind of pie Oliver likes?"

"Are these really the things you think about first thing in the morning?"

Norma chuckled. "I was talking to Krista on the phone yesterday and brought up that I had the day off today, she said I could stop over there and visit. I wanted to bring them something."

"Oliver will eat anything you put in front of him, but Krista loves blueberry." Alex said and she smiled, happy it was something she had the ingredients for already. "That's nice she invited you over."

"Well I think it's just cause Oliver is driving her nuts all alone at that house with him, apparently not every man is as tough as you when they get shot."

"I can understand why, he's use to being smothered while he's hurt. When we were in middle school he fell out of a tree and broke his arm, his mom made me carry his books to every single class for him."

"Couldn't he have just carried them in his other hand?"

"That's what I asked, then she gave me a death stare so I caved."

"Someone that can intimidate you that easily, that's a woman I gotta meet someday."

"It wasn't exactly the look alone, I was already feeling pretty bad since I was the one who pushed him out of the tree."

"And that part of the story you leave out." Norma said with a laugh. "Why did you push him?"

"It was pretty stupid. I was mad at him because he told our friend Rick Hogshead that I had a crush on a girl our other friend Bob Paris was dating. Rick could never keep a secret and told Bob which caused a big blow out between us. I went and found Oliver at this tree house we would hang out at in the woods. We started yelling at each other and I sort of cornered him by the edge of the deck, he told me to move back and I didn't so he shoved me and I slammed into the tree. He could tell I was not happy about it and he looked behind him and said 'you wouldn't dare'. Some part of my mind needed to prove him wrong so I pushed him, immediately regretting it as soon as I saw him crying on the ground and clutching his arm."

Norma laughed. "I can't believe that is something you would do."

"Hey, you don't know everything about me, I have quite the dark side." Alex joked, rolling over and pinning her underneath him.

"Hmm, maybe you could show me sometime."

Alex smiled and leaned down to kiss her, catching a sight of the clock on the way down and stopping. "Is that right?" He said, nodding toward the time on the screen.

"Yes, I'd hope so. Unless we have someone sneaking in here in the middle of the night and changing it." Norma said with a chuckle then Alex rolled away from her quick and got off the bed. "Why, what's going on?"

"I'm supposed to be at work in ten minutes." Alex said, rushing over and grabbing out some clothes from his closet. "I thought I set that alarm clock when I got home, but I must have forgot."

"You got in six hours ago, how could you already have work again?" Norma asked, sitting up on the bed.

"No matter how late I stay my actual shifts don't change." Alex said, pulling a clean tee shirt over his head.

"How long is your shift today?"

"Ten hours, longer if the temp doesn't work out again."

"You can solve this problem by not firing every new deputy they send you."

"If they are causing more work than there is no point in them being there anyways."

"Well maybe let them get the hang of it first and they won't keep giving you more work."

"If only it were that simple."

"It is." Norma said with a chuckle. "You're too picky."

"You should be glad I'm picky about who I keep around, it says good things about you." Alex said, finally fully dressed. He walked over and kneeled down on the bed, leaning in to give her a kiss goodbye. "I'm sorry about work, but I will try and get home earlier today."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Norma said and gave him another kiss before he rushed out of the room.

After getting herself ready Norma headed downstairs and got started on everything. She had the boys breakfast made first, setting them up at the barstools by the counter so they could visit with her before school while she made the pie.

"Is Alex going to come down to eat too?" Dylan asked, picking up his fork to start eating.

"He is at work." Norma said, stirring the batter for her crust in a bowl.

"Already? He's been going in early everyday, then he doesn't get home till after dinner. We barely see him anymore."

"He took New Years off to spend time together."

"That was two weeks ago, and that was the last time we saw him for more than an hour at a time."

"It's just a transition period. Being sheriff is a huge job and he needs time to get everything figured out, it's not forever."

"And what if it is? What if it will always be like this?"

"Then we will figure it out, we always do."

"Do you think he will lose interest in us now that he's got more important things going on?" Norman asked.

Norma stopped stirring and walked over to them, leaning onto the counter. "Trust me, Alex is not going to lose interest. And there is no way he will ever think that we aren't important." She said then stood up straight. "Now finish up your food, the bus is going to be here soon."

A couple hours later Norma was at the Mackenzie's home, she had given them the pie she made and it had turned out perfectly. They had shared a lunch together and they were delighted she was kind enough to bring something for dessert, telling her how Alex finally found a good one. When they were finished Oliver left the girls visit alone, Krista had teased that he was just trying to get away from them so he could go take a nap.

"Oliver has been telling me that Alex is doing an amazing job as sheriff." Krista told Norma, sipping at the coffee she had poured them.

"It's good to know he's handling things so well. He's been so busy with everything I really haven't gotten much time to talk to him about it."

"I suppose until they find a good deputy he will be pretty swamped, it's probably a good thing he's got Chloe there picking up some of the slack."

"Chloe?" Norma questioned.

"You met her, she's his receptionist."

"Oh, I know. I just hadn't known she was helping so much, she's not an officer so I wouldn't think she would be able to do a lot."

"She actually went to the police academy straight out of high school, but she learned pretty quickly she wasn't cut out for it and took a desk gig. She understands the ins an outs of the job so she offered to cover some of the more basic stuff like paperwork and all that kind of stuff. She was here visiting Oliver yesterday and she spoke very highly of the work Alex has been doing. None of us are really surprised, we knew he would make a great sheriff."

"Yeah, I'm sure he does." Norma said, sitting back and taking a sip of her coffee.

Over at the station Alex was plowing through report after report. He decided getting everything organized would help him work faster on the days to come so he could at least try to make it home a little earlier. When he got the pile he was working on finished he picked it up and carried them out into the filing cabinet near the front desks. Before he got to it he noticed Chloe sitting at her spot, smacking the side of her computer.

"We don't have it in the budget to buy a new one of those if you break it." Alex said as he opened up the drawer and put the files away.

"The stupid thing keeps crashing." Chloe told him, shaking the mouse violently like that was going to somehow fix it.

"Call the tech guy."

"I already did. He tried walking me through a few things over the phone but as soon as he asked me if I was sure it was turned on I cursed him out and he hung up."

"I can't blame you." Alex said, walking over and leaning his hand down onto the desk so he could look for what was wrong. "Does it do anything before it crashes?"

"A black screen comes up with a blinking white dash, like it wants me to write something but then it freezes up."

"Did you do a virus scan?"

"No, how do I do that?" Chloe said and Alex looked over at her judgmentally. "Well maybe pay me a better salary and I could buy my own computer and learn how to do all this."

"I'm just thinking you shouldn't have cursed out the tech guy so soon, he might have been onto something." Alex teased and she shoved him away from her playfully. He was about to show her how to do it when there was a knock on the glass. They both looked over and saw Norma standing there then Alex straightened up. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

Norma took a moment to examine them both before putting on a smile and responding. "Just coming to visit. I haven't seen you in your new office yet and Oliver wants me to make sure you haven't changed too much yet."

"You mind?" Alex asked Chloe, pointing toward the switch for the door lock. She nodded quick then reached over and pressed it, letting Norma in. "I can show you it in a minute, I'm helping Chloe with a computer issue."

"That's alright, I can handle it from here. I'll just call the guy back and apologize, he should be able to talk me through it."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, go on." Chloe said then Alex turned to Norma, placing his hand on her back and leading her into his office.

Alex moved further into his office and started to talk as Norma shut the door behind them. "Don't tell him I put the chair higher up, I honestly don't know how someone who's only an inch shorter than me could sit so low." He said, placing his hand on the back of the chair and turning to look back at her, finally noticing she was leaning her back against the door and staring over at him. "Norma, you okay?"

Norma smiled and pushed off the door, taking slow steps toward him. "I'm great, sheriff." She said, stopping in front of him and tracing his badge with her fingertips.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked, the sides of his mouth curling into a small smile. Instead of answering she reached up to the top button of his uniform and started to undo them, keeping eye contact with him the whole time. "We can't do this here, anyone could walk in."

"Chloe is the only one out there and she won't just barge in when she knows I'm in here." Norma said, reaching the last button and pulling his shirt open so the black tee beneath was now showing. She leaned in and caught his lips, kissing him hungrily.

Alex pulled back a bit and looked at her, smiling. "You're crazy."

"That's what you love about me." Norma said then this time he pulled her into a kiss. After a few moments she slid her hands up his chest and onto his shoulders then shoved him down onto his chair, standing above him smiling at the lustful glare he was giving her. She slowly placed a knee on each side of his legs, bending them so she was sitting perfectly in his lap.

Alex reached a hand behind her and followed her spine down till it hit her ass, leaving it there to stabilize her. He ran the other one up to the back of her head then pulled her down gently to reach his mouth, kissing her on the lips before traveling to her neck. Feeling her press firmer against him caused him to moan against her skin and she shushed him, he knew she was doing it just to mess with him since it was only loud enough for her to hear. He moved his hand to the front of her face, putting his fingers on the side of her chin and moving her jaw down to open her mouth enough to shove his tongue in and kiss her again. Norma's hands found their way down to his belt, undoing the buckle. Alex stopped kissing her and moved back, looking at her. When she thought he was about to chicken out he gripped both his hands under her thighs and stood up, wrapping her legs around him. With one hand he pushed aside the few items on his desk then lowered her onto it, climbing on top of her. They didn't know if it was the fear of getting caught or the excitement of having sex in his office but it didn't take either of them long to finish.

"That was-" Alex paused, thinking of a word but chuckling instead.

"Exciting." Norma said, putting her blouse back on.

"And terrifying." He said, buttoning his pants up.

"Funny, you didn't seem very scared."

"Well I had a lot of other things running through my mind too."

"Oh, I'm sure you did." Norma said stepping back to the door, putting her hand on the handle. "I should let you get back to work, you're a busy man lately."

Alex walked over beside her. "I actually was working on a way to get home earlier when someone came in here and started distracting me."

"I didn't hear you complaining."

"How could I ever?" Alex said, leaning in and kissing her goodbye.

"I'll see you at home." Norma said then she opened the door up and stepped out a bit when Alex grabbed her and pulled her back to face him. "Getting greedy now?"

Alex whispered near her ear. "You forgot a few buttons." He said, eyeing down toward her chest.

"Where?" Norma said, looking down as if she couldn't see them.

"The top ones." He said then she looked again. When she did nothing to fix them he reached up and redid them for her. He glanced awkwardly over at Chloe, Norma didn't look back at her but she could tell by how flustered Alex looked that she was watching them.

Norma grabbed onto Alex's shirt and pulled him to her, crashing her lips onto his and leaving him with one last kiss. "See you at home, sheriff." She said with a smirk then turned around, freezing a second when she saw Chloe staring at her as if she were surprised. "Oh, bye Chloe."

"Bye Norma." Chloe said then Norma walked passed her and out of the room.

"You ah- get that problem figured out?" Alex asked.

"Yup, all good now." Chloe said, turning back to her computer.

Norma felt successful to say the least, not that she had intended on going there and doing that. She only wanted to talk to Alex and figure out how they were going to make everything work now that he was gone so much. But after what Krista had told her about Chloe being his new little sidekick and how she witnessed her acting to him she had the urge to show them both she was still very much apart of his life. Not that Alex really had to be told, she knew she could trust him enough to stay faithful even with some younger woman giggling over everything he said.

The boys had just gone to bed and she was downstairs cleaning up when she heard the front door open. She walked over to the fridge and pulled out a plateful of leftover dinner she had made up for Alex just as he walked into the room. "I saved you some supper if you're hungry, I just gotta warm it up."

"Maybe in a little bit." Alex said then she set it on the counter. "We should talk about what happened today."

"What do you mean?"

"When you came to my office."

Norma smirked. "What about it?"

"I know what you were trying to do."

"I was only coming to visit you at your work, I can't help it that you looked so damn good in your new office."

"Norma." Alex said with an exhale. "You wanted to make Chloe jealous. You saw her trying to flirt with me when you got there and you made sure she knew what we did. So what, you could claim me?"

"I don't know what you are getting at."

"It was obvious, you might as well came out of my office with a sandwich board saying 'we just had sex'."

"Do they make those?" She joked.

"Norma." Alex warned.

"Okay, fine, that is what I was doing. I know I shouldn't get territorial but her little puppy dog crush bugs me. I mean shouldn't she be over it by now, it's not like there are real feelings there." Norma said then watched as Alex's expression changed to guilt and he remained quiet. "Is there?"

"It's not just a crush to her. She likes me, like really likes me."

"She told you this?"

"She kissed me."

"She kissed you?" Norma asked angrily, stepping toward him. "When, recently?"

"It was over a month ago."

"A month ago? We were already together a month ago, she kissed you when she knew we were dating? What kind of woman does that?"

"It was while we were fighting, after what happened when I was watching Norman."

"So she just waited till the second we were having problems to jump all over you?"

"It wasn't like that. I was a wreck and I was snapping at everyone. I got hurt and she was helping me, then she asked me what was going on and I told her. And then it just happened."

Norma leaned her head back some, looking at him suspiciously. "Did you kiss her back?"

"No." Alex said quickly. "No, of course not. I would never do that to you. I don't care if you would had broken up with me I still wouldn't have done that."

"Then why didn't you tell me till now, why hide it?"

"I was going to tell you, as soon as it happened I left work to talk to you."

"So why didn't you?"

"Norma, it was that day, when I showed up and Keith was there." Alex said then reached over and grabbed a hold of her hands. "And believe me I wanted to tell you about it so many times but I couldn't bring myself to after everything you had just been through. I didn't want to hurt you anymore than you had already been. And I'm telling you now for the sake of being honest, I never intended to keep it from you." He said but she didn't say anything back. "Are you mad at me?"

Norma exhaled and thought to herself a moment. "No, I'm glad you told me." She said, giving his hands a reassuring squeeze. "And I'm not mad at you for keeping it from me, I know you had good reasons."

"You're the only woman I want. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, but it's still nice to hear you say it." Norma said and Alex smiled at her, pulling her hands and wrapping them around his back so he could move closer to her.

"I already have the perfect person for me, no need to look for another. Besides I know if I ever had another woman you would kill me."

"I wouldn't kill you. I'd kill her and frame you for it."

"I love when you talk crazy to me." Alex said with a smirk, leaning in and kissing her.

Norma pulled back a bit. "But does this mean we can't fool around in your office anymore?"

"Not at all, maybe next time though let's not make it so obvious."

"And you should install a lock on that door too just in case."

"I'll stop at the hardware store tomorrow, I'm not going into work till late anyways."

"No early morning tomorrow?"

"Nope, I thought I should spend some quality time at home."

Norma smiled. "I like the idea of that."

The next morning the four of them had a nice breakfast together, Alex made sure to catch up with the boys on everything they'd been waiting to tell him about before they went off to school. Norma let him know she was going to run to the store quick to get them stuff for lunch, he was home till three today and she wanted to make the most of it. On her drive back she looked ahead at the police station, noticing Chloe getting out of her sedan. Norma pulled off to the side of the road and turned off her car, hopping out and heading over to her.

"Chloe." Norma said, getting her attention.

Chloe turned around and took a few steps toward her. "Yes?"

"I wanted to apologize about my behavior yesterday." Norma said and Chloe scrunched her face up like she wasn't sure of what she was talking about.

"I didn't notice anything wrong with your behavior."

"Chloe, you know what I'm talking about."

"You really don't have to apologize to me, what you and your boyfriend do behind closed doors is none of my business."

"I know I don't have to, but I felt it was wrong of me to do. I got jealous and vindictive, it's not something I'm used to feeling before Alex and I didn't really know how to go about it. I knew you liked him and I intentionally flaunted our relationship in your face, and I was wrong in doing that."

"It's okay Norma, I understand."

"Thank you." Norma paused. "That being said though I want you to know that you kissing Alex was not okay."

Chloe widened her eyes and stared at her. "Norma-"

"No, no need to explain yourself or say anything else to me because I don't need to hear it. Women should not hope for a relationship to be on the rocks to make their move, it's extremely disrespectful to not only the couple you are trying to break up but also to yourself. That's all I wanted to say." Norma said then turned around and started to walk away before stopping, facing her once more. "Oh, and that if you ever make a move on Alex again I won't be showing up so calmly." She said then continued back to her car.

Alex came home a little after midnight that night, Norma was in bed wide awake but decided to lay quietly when he came into the room. She felt him climb onto the bed behind her, pulling some covers over his body before scooted closer to her and wrapping his arm around her. He kissed her on the cheek and then rested his head on the palm of his hand, looking down at her. "You know I can always tell that you are awake."

Norma smiled and opened her eyes. "You know everything, don't you?"

"That's the rumor." Alex said while rubbing her arm gently. "Do you have trouble sleeping when I'm not here?"

"Kind of. I mostly just like to know you made it home safely, I worry about you when you're at work."

"I don't think I ever really thought about how it would make you feel being the girlfriend of a police officer. How stressful it must be when I'm not in bed with you at the end of every day."

"It's your job, I know it's important to you."

"Well it is, but I'm going to make it a little less of a priority. I asked you guys to move in with me so I could see you more and that's not going to work if I'm never here."

"Does this mean you are finally settling on a deputy?"

"I hired a permanent one today."

"Really?"

"Yes. I thought I should take your advice so I promoted Stanley instead of having them send out another temp. Probably a good time too, they were telling me they only had one guy after this to send me and he sounded like some punk kid."

"His grandmother is going to be so proud of him, and he'll be making enough now to help her pay for her knee replacement surgery."

"Knowing that he was chatting with you about his grandma when I told him to guard the motel doesn't make me feel any better about my decision."

Norma smiled. "I'm really glad you are going to be home more, we've missed you."

"I missed you guys too." Alex said with a smile. "Although I do have to go in early tomorrow, we have a new receptionist being trained in."

"A new one? Don't you have enough working there?"

"Chloe quit today."

"What? Why?" Norma asked, acting surprised.

"Apparently she was feeling guilty about kissing me while we were fighting, thought it would be best if she took a job elsewhere."

"That's too bad, but I'm glad to know she knew what she did was wrong."

"Ah ha. And you wouldn't have had anything to do with her coming to that realization, would you?"

"No, not at all."

"Okay, so when she was leaving and she told me that it probably wouldn't mean anything to you but to tell Norma she is sorry was just something random." Alex said and Norma smirked. "It was actually perfect timing, I was planning on firing her after I realized she had no clue how to work a computer."

"Oh that you were going to fire her for, but not when she kissed you?" Norma asked, laughing.

"If the kiss would have gotten in the way of my work it would have been a problem." Alex joked. "But I promise the next time a coworker kisses me I will fire them right away."

"There better not be a next time."

"It's not something I can control, I don't know how this new girl Regina is going to feel about me."

"You know I'm sure the boys would be really excited to have a slumber party with you tonight if you keep that up."

Alex laid back on his pillow, holding her tighter in his arms. "Goodnight, Norma."

"Goodnight, sheriff."


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: Okay so being in the home stretch here with only five chapters left after this one is making me get sentimental, and I know I said this in the last note but you guys literally are the best! It makes me so happy to hear the people are actually enjoying all this random junk I put together, it's amazing. And right now I'm really trying to work toward putting out another fic. I've had a bundle of different stories outlined from even before this one was around that I picked through and have been attempting to create something out of. If I can motivate and come up with some more inner plot lines for it you might just be seeing a young Normero fic in the weeks to come. ( _No promises though)._ So as always let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Letting go is a tricky thing, a lot of the time it feels scary. Because if you're letting go of something that means you are opening yourself up to new opportunities and who knows whether those will work out. It's almost easier to stay the same, at least that way things won't have to change and you won't have to worry about fear of the unknown. That's how Norma had always thought of it, now she felt different about everything. Letting go is what got her to where she is now. If she hadn't taken that risk her life wouldn't have turned out so well.

"Newspaper is here." Alex said, setting it in front of Norma who was at the table drinking her coffee.

"Is it in it?" Norma asked.

"You're gonna have to open it up to see."

Norma grabbed the newspaper and flipped it to the classifieds, reading down a few entries. "Nineteen-eighty six Mercury Lynx station wagon for sale, runs and drives. Test drive it and make an offer." She said then looked at Alex. "What happened to all the stuff I told you to add? About the broken gas gauge, and the faulty stereo and all the other things?"

"Because if I would have added all the things wrong with that car the ad would have costed more than what you're gonna get for it. Besides, people have to see the car first to really appreciate it, then you tell them all the problems."

"I've owned that car for years, I know there's not anything to appreciate."

"Just wait and see, someone will see the potential in it."

"Is that what you did with me?" Norma joked.

"No, I already appreciated you at first glance." Alex said, leaning down to rest his chin on her shoulder. "Especially when you were climbing across the front seats to get your keys off the floor, there was a lot to appreciate about that." He said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure I looked great with twenty hours of road trip on me."

"I kinda liked the whole messy hair and crazed eyes, very wild."

"Are you sure you don't have a fetish for unstable women?"

Alex turned to whisper into her ear. "You know, now that I think about it I just might." He said then moved some hair aside and kissed her neck.

"What has gotten into you today?" Norma asked with a laugh.

"What? A guy can't show his girlfriend some affection?" Alex said, moving up to her jawline and placing a soft kiss there.

"You showed me affection this morning when you woke me up, then you showed me it again when you followed me into the shower."

Alex stopped and smiled at her. "I've been thinking a lot about you."

"I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad thing."

"Definitely a good thing." He said then placed his hand on her chin and turned her head so he could kiss her lips.

"Give it back!" Norman yelled from the stairway, followed by two loud sets of footsteps running down the steps. Alex pulled away and stood up, glancing around the corner as they appeared.

"Not until you tell me what you did with my bracelet." Dylan said, holding Norman's small blanket up high enough so he couldn't reach no matter how many times he hopped for it.

"Hey, what is going on?" Norma asked, standing up and walking over to them with Alex.

"A girl in my class gave me a bracelet she made and Norman took it."

"I did not!" Norman said, still trying to grab his blanket back.

"It was on my desk yesterday and now it's gone, who could have taken it other than you? The bead fairy?"

"Why would I want your stupid bracelet?"

"Because you're a little brat and you want everything for yourself."

"That's enough, the both of you." Alex said, grabbing the blanket from Dylan. "Are you sure it's missing?"

"Yes, I took it off after school yesterday and set it on my desk. Norman and Emma wanted me to paint with them and I didn't want to get it messy."

"And you couldn't have moved it anywhere else after that?"

"I'm twelve, I think it's a little early for memory loss."

"Okay." Alex said then looked over at Norman. "Norman, did you take it off of his desk?"

"No, I didn't."

"You aren't going to be in trouble if you did, we just need to know so he can get it back."

"I did not take it, I don't even like those things."

"Okay." Alex said, handing him his blanket back.

"You are just going to take his word for it?" Dylan asked.

"Yes, I believe him."

"Of course you would believe him too, he always gets away with everything." Dylan said, stomping away from them and heading upstairs.

"Dylan." Norma called out but he kept walking.

"I didn't take it." Norman said again to reassure her.

"I know sweetie, he probably misplaced it." Norma said, comforting him. "How about you go watch some television in the living room and leave your brother to some alone time."

"Okay." Norman said and scrunched up his blanket, carrying it with him to the other room.

"It's always an entertaining morning with us around, isn't it?" Norma said, turning to Alex.

"Well luckily I enjoy the entertainment." He said with a smile then Norma peaked at her watch.

"I gotta get to work. Are you sure you are going to be fine watching them?"

"I'm sure, they will get over their little fight soon enough and the rest of the day will go fine."

"Alright, just call me right away if anything happens. Lunch is already made up in the fridge, you just have to microwave it. And I should be home before dinnertime."

"Okay, just one quick question."

"Yeah?"

"How do I work the microwave?" Alex said with a smirk then Norma turned away.

"I'm leaving."

"Wait, come here." Alex said, grabbing her wrist lightly and pulling her back to him for a kiss. "Now you can leave."

Norma smiled and gave him another quick kiss then walked over to the living room and leaned over the couch to give Norman a kiss goodbye on the cheek. "You be good for Alex, okay?"

"I will." Norman said then they said their goodbyes.

Alex waited till the front door closed then walked over to the sofa and sat down next to Norman. He grabbed the remote and shut the television off, earning a confused look from the young boy. "I want you to tell me why you were lying."

"What do you mean?" Norman asked.

"Dylan's bracelet, what did you do with it?"

"I didn't do anything with it, I told you that."

Alex watched him closely to try and read his actions, noticing he was definitely flustered about something. "Norman, you don't have to pretend with me, I can tell when someone is lying. Now if you took it right now, it's as simple as just giving it back. But if I have to search for it, and believe me I will find it if you did then there will be consequences."

Norman glanced down at his hands and thought a moment before looking back up at Alex. "I didn't take it, but I know what happened to it." He said then paused.

"Go on, you can tell me."

"Yesterday when Emma was packing up her backpack before she left I saw her grab it and shove it into one of the pockets."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know, she was acting really weird when Dylan showed it to us. She told me that she doesn't like the girl that gave it to him and how she doesn't even know him well like she does."

"Ah, I got it." Alex said, coming to a realization. He stood up and handed the remote back to Norman. "Go ahead and watch your show, I'm gonna go talk to Dylan." He said then walked upstairs and stood outside their bedroom, knocking on the frame of the open door. "Mind if I come in?"

Dylan lifted his head off the bed some and glanced over at him. "Why? You come up here to defend Norman more?"

Alex walked inside and took a seat in the chair next to his desk, pulling it close to the bed. "Norman didn't take your bracelet."

"Sure, it probably just grew legs and walked off my desk."

"I said Norman didn't take it, I didn't say nobody else did." Alex said then Dylan sat up on his bed. "He told me he saw Emma take it."

"Why would Emma take my bracelet? She was telling me it looked ugly."

Alex chuckled lightly. "Sometimes girls say things because they are upset, not because they mean it."

"Upset? Why would she be upset about my bracelet?"

"I think she wasn't happy that a girl was giving you gifts because she likes you."

"Like ' _like likes'_ me?" Dylan asked and he nodded. "Why? We are just friends."

"Sometimes being friends with someone is the best way to find out you like them."

"But I don't like her that way, she's a little kid."

"Three years might seem like a big difference right now, but one day it won't be. Your mom and I have four years between us."

"But I don't want to be her boyfriend ever."

"I'm not saying you have to date her once you are both older, but maybe don't crush all her hopes already. Chances are by the time she's old enough to date she will like someone else and you will be the last guy on her mind."

"So what do I tell her?"

"Tell her what you told me, that you really like her as a friend but she's too young for you."

"I don't want to make her upset, what if she starts crying or something?"

"I think she is going to be strong enough to handle it. And tell you what, how about I give her parents a call and see if they can drop her off to hang out today? Your mom left a ton of pasta in the fridge and she can have lunch with us if she's not busy."

"Okay, if you think she is going to take it okay I'll try."

"Well, maybe we can go over a few tips after I call." Alex said then they stood up and went downstairs to make the call.

Later that day after Emma had came over and spent a couple hours with them her mother picked her up, then the boys started cleaning up the den where the three of them had been building a lego city.

"Can I keep my house built?" Norman asked, holding up his lego home with multi-colored bricks.

"You know the rules, everything comes apart otherwise they won't fit back in the bin." Dylan told him then watched as he frowned. "Fine, if you take the roof off and stuff it with loose pieces we might be able to fit it in."

"Okay." Norman said with a smile, doing as his brother suggested.

"Son of a-" Alex said as he walked into the room, lifting his foot up to see a lego under it.

"Didn't you ever learn to watch were you were walking on a floor full of legos? It's like a war zone." Dylan said, picking up the piece he had stepped on.

"Trust me, I've seen a war zone and my den looks nothing like it." Alex said then took a seat in the desk chair, moving in near them. "I wanted to talk to you both before your mom got home about something."

Dylan looked up at Alex and noticed how serious he looked. "Something important?"

"Yes, very important. It's something if I do will change things. And I want to know if I have your support, because I'm not sure I could do it without it."

"Are you breaking up with Norma?" Dylan asked, looking upset.

"No." Alex said quickly. "I'm not breaking up with your mom, I would never do that."

"What is it then?" Dylan said, both boys giving him their full attention.

"I would like both of yours blessing to ask her to marry me."

"You are going to propose?"

"I'd like to, but I want to know it is something you are okay with first."

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting for you to finally get the nerve to ask her."

"You have?" Alex asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Dylan said honestly. "You are the only person who has ever cared about our family, it's about time you become apart of it."

"Thank you." Alex said with a smile, looking over at Norman for his reaction. "What do you think Norman, would you be okay with it?"

"Am I going to have to call you dad?" Norman asked, looking unhappy with the idea of it.

"No, you don't have to call me dad. I'm not looking to replace your father in your mind, I just want to spend the rest of my life with all of you."

"I don't mind if you replace him. I don't want to call you dad because it will remind me of him, and I don't want to have to think of him when we have you now."

Alex smiled at him. "Okay, well if you keep calling me Alex then do I have your blessing?"

"Yes, you do."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me that you both are okay with this."

"When are you going to do it?" Dylan asked, making Alex chuckle softly.

"I haven't gotten quite that far yet in the plan."

"Can we help?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, I think that would be perfect."

Later that day after they had discussed their plans for the future proposal Alex threw together a quick snack to hold them over till dinner since Norma had called saying she was going to be later than expected. After they were all cleaned up the boys went upstairs to get their weekend homework out of the way and Alex sat back in the living room to watch some television. Not long after Norma came in the front door and discarded her things before walking over and sitting on the couch next to him.

"How'd it go today?" Norma asked.

"Well the boys are alive and well upstairs, they're doing their homework."

"Are they still fighting?"

"No, I fixed that right after you left."

"You fixed it? How did you manage that?"

"I'm a man of many talents. Although I hope you weren't planning on making pasta for supper because the kids used all the noodles to make more bracelets for everyone." Alex said with a smile and she didn't respond. He noticed that she looked distant and placed a hand on her leg. "Hey, are you okay?"

"No, not really." Norma said, trying not to cry.

Alex sat up quick and scooted next to her, wrapping an arm around her and rubbing her arm. "What happened?"

"At work today Maggie told me she is going to be selling the motel, that she can't afford to keep the place running anymore."

"Norma, that's okay. You're an amazing worker and there is more than one motel near here that would love to hire you. Besides you don't have to worry about getting a job till you find one you really like, I can handle the bills till then."

"It's not so much the job, it's everything. That is the first place I ever felt a connection to. From the second we got there, even with all the stress and worry I could feel it. I know it is just some crappy motel room but it is like home to me, and I never had that before then. It's just sad to think I don't get to go there everyday and work."

"I know." Alex said, giving her a gentle squeeze. "But just because you can't go there as much doesn't mean it wasn't your home, you will always have the memories from it. And just think about it. One day we can make a new home together, one with even better memories."

"Thank you." Norma said with a smile, resting her head on his shoulder a minute. "Did you say someone used all the pasta noodles?" She asked, lifting her head up to look at him.

"It's a long story. I'll explain while we make noodle less pasta."


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: I'm about to have a crazy busy weekend ahead of me so I only thought it would be right to put this chapter out now instead of making all you lovely people wait any longer. I loved your feedback on the last chapter and I'm happy you are looking forward to more from me. The fic I brought up possibly doing has fourteen chapters of it written already so once I can decide on a few more ideas for the rest of it and the ending I'll put it up. For now I am going to leave the description of it in my profile bio for anyone who is interested in seeing what it's about. As always let me know what you think and enjoy!

Alex couldn't sleep most the night, he had taken his sleeping pills twice and they had no effect on him whatsoever. He had gotten used to that in the past, the only time they ever worked properly was on days with minimal amounts of stress. What was new to him was that this time around it wasn't because he was stressed out, it was because he was the opposite. For the first time in a long time he was so hyped up that his mind wasn't capable of shutting off. Sure what was on his mind had its own set of anxiety too, but he tried not to let the negative thoughts cross his mind. He lifted his head lightly and peeked over at the clock, it was finally six in the morning and he could get started on his plan. He gently moved the blankets off of himself and climbed off the bed, walking into his bathroom. After a quick shower he dried off and went back into the bedroom to get dressed. He was almost finished when he heard Norma shuffling around on their bed and he glanced over.

"What are you doing?" Norma asked, looking over at him with squinted eyes.

"I have to run into work for awhile. Don't worry though, I'll be home before you leave for work." Alex said, buttoning his shirt.

"I thought you were done with the early mornings."

"It's only for today, and I'm off tomorrow so we can sleep in as late as you want." Alex said then kneeled onto the bed and gave her a quick kiss. "Get back to sleep, you still got a couple more hours before the alarm goes off."

"Okay." Norma said, snuggling back up into her blanket and closing her eyes.

Alex smiled as he watched her fall right back to sleep, turning to grab a few of his things off the dresser before leaving the room. When he got out to his car he unbuttoned his uniform shirt and took it off, tossing it in the seat beside him. He didn't like lying to Norma about where he was going, but he wasn't going to bring her into the loop until he knew what he was trying to do was actually possible. He started up his car and drove off, within a few minutes he pulled up to his destination. He parked in front of the Seafairer motel then shut the car off, looking around at the property a minute then he hopped out and walked to the office.

"Alex." Maggie said with a smile, glancing over when he came inside. "Norma's not in for a few more hours."

"I know, I just left the house." Alex said, closing the door and walking over to the desk. "I came to talk to you about something."

"Okay."

"Norma was telling me that you're selling your house and the motel."

"Yes." Maggie said sadly. "As much as I wish I could keep this place going I just don't have the money or energy to make it happen anymore."

"Are you going to stay in town once you've sold the place?"

Maggie nodded. "I already got a nice little house in mind, it's near the lake. They just put it on the market though, I'm not sure if I'll be able to sell in time to buy it."

"Have you listed this place yet?"

"No, I'm going to talk to a real estate agent tomorrow."

"What if you sold it to me instead? You wouldn't need to pay anyone to sell it and you could put an offer on the house you want already."

"You're interested in buying this place?"

"I've been considering moving to a bigger house, once the boys are older they aren't going to want to keep sharing the same room. And I know Norma would love to keep working at the motel, and I'd be able to help make the improvements to keep it going."

"If you really are serious I would love to sell it to you. I was already upset thinking about letting it go after the property has been in my family for so long. But you guys are the closest thing I have left to a family besides my aunt, it seems fitting that you would take it over."

"Do you have a price in mind yet?"

"I had someone out to evaluate everything and he gave me a good range to get for it." Maggie said, walking back to her desk and grabbing a folder. She opened it up and set it on the counter, pointing to the price range. "For you I would sell it on the lowest end."

Alex read the amount and looked up at her. "Are you sure?"

"Hey with everything you have done around here it's the only reason there still is any value to this place." Maggie said and closed back up the folder, holding it out to him. "I have copies if you want this one to look over."

"Yes, that would be good." Alex said and grabbed the folder from her. "It's a surprise right now so I'm gonna have to talk to Norma about it first, I can let you know tomorrow morning."

"Anything before four is fine, my appointment with the realtor isn't till five so as long as I know by then I can either cancel or get ready. And I'll make sure not to bring any of this up to Norma today."

"Okay, thank you." Alex said then they said goodbye.

Alex stopped at the local coffee shop before going to his next destination, avoiding the road that went past his house like he would normally take so he wouldn't cross paths with Norma. The day was already off to a great start and he was hoping it stayed that way. The next thing he had to do was go have a talk with Oliver.

"Alex." Krista said, greeting him. "Come on in." She said and held the door open for him to walk inside. "What are you doing up and around this early on your day off?"

"I wanted to come by to talk to Oliver." Alex said and glanced around the house. "Is he awake yet?"

"Kinda, he's still in bed but he's up watching his soaps."

"Wait, soaps? Like soap operas?"

"Yeah, he's been watching them every morning the last few months." Krista said and Alex cracked a smile. "I probably shouldn't have told anybody that."

"I'll try to refrain from teasing him for it." Alex said then pulled a coffee from his carrier and held it out to her. "Decaf, lots of chocolate and caramel with a hint of mint."

"You already know the baby so well. Thank you." Krista said, taking it from him.

"Hey." Oliver said, walking out to the foyer. "Are you here to build the new crib?"

"I think you are healed enough to handle that on your own now. I wasn't sure how awake you were going to be yet so I brought you coffee." Alex said, handing him his cup.

"Thank you." Oliver said, grabbing it from him and taking a sip.

"And I'm not interrupting anything, am I? Because I could come back later."

"No, I was just watching-" Oliver paused. "There is this study on the news that I was watching, but it's over."

"Oh yeah, is it that study about the increasing amount of men who now watch soap operas?" Alex said then Oliver sighed and looked over at Krista.

"Great job restraining yourself there." Krista said.

"Well I guess since you know you can hurry up and tell me what you're here for, I got another one starting at nine." Oliver said.

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh no, what did you do?"

"It's not anything bad."

"Okay, let's go sit. I don't care how much caffeine is in this, I'm not ready to stand up any longer this early in the morning." Oliver said then the both of them walked over to the living room and sat down while Krista went off into another room to leave them talk. "Alright, what did you want to talk about." He said then instead of speaking Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box, opening it up to show him the diamond ring inside. "Alex, I'm flattered, really. But I don't think now is a good time for me to be leaving my wife so we can run off together, I have a baby on the way."

Alex ignored his joke and went on. "I'm going to ask Norma to marry me."

"Are you serious?" Oliver asked, a huge smile forming on his face when Alex nodded yes. "When?"

"If all goes well I'm going to do it tonight."

"This is amazing, you are going to propose." Oliver said happily then he looked at the ring. "Is that your moms?"

"Yeah." Alex said, glancing down at the engagement ring that had been sitting in his safe since the day his mother passed. "I feel like she would have wanted Norma to have it."

"I think so too. I know she would have loved the idea of a girl like her as a daughter in law."

Alex smiled with a hint of sadness. "Well, I should get back home. Norma's gotta work at eleven and I'm watching the boys today." He said, starting to stand up.

"Actually I have something I wanted to tell you too, if you got a few more minutes to spare."

"Yeah." Alex said, sitting back down.

"I didn't want to tell you until it was a sure thing but last week I went in for an interview at a company that is looking for a head of security. They called me a few days ago and told me I got the position. I'm starting in a couple weeks when my doctor gives me the okay."

Alex stared at him in confusion. "You aren't coming back as sheriff?"

"Nope, I spoke with the Mayor already and let him know you would be his go to guy from here on out."

"Why? I thought I was only covering for you until you got better."

"The more I thought about it the more I realized that I didn't want to be sheriff again. After everything that happened with Riley's death and how I handled it, I just don't ever want to be in a position where I might do something like that again. Besides we both know that it isn't the safest job and I want to be around to see little Randy grow up."

"Randy?" Alex said, giving him an odd look. "You are going to name your baby after the goldfish we caught together that died an hour after you brought it home?"

"It's after Krista's grandfather. But thank you for reminding me about that painful memory."

"I thought her grandpa's name was Randolph?"

"It was, but I don't want to scar the kid right off the bat so we are using a variation of it." Oliver said, smiling over at him. "It seems kinda crazy, doesn't it? I'm having a baby and you're getting married."

"She hasn't said yes yet."

"Trust me, she will."

Alex smiled to himself then stood up. "Congratulations on the new job."

"And congrats to you on the soon to be engagement." Oliver said, standing up and giving him a quick hug. "Call me tomorrow and let me know how everything went."

Alex nodded and starting walking to the front door. "Enjoy your soaps."

"Oh, I will." Oliver said back.

The next few hours went by almost effortlessly. When Alex got back to the house he had a little time to visit Norma before she headed off to work and left him and the boys the finish the last of their plan together, after first showing Norma's old car to an interested buyer.

"Are you nervous?" Dylan asked Alex. The both of them and Norman were sitting on the couch waiting for Norma to get home, pretending they were watching television when in reality it was the last thing on their minds.

"A little." Alex said.

"You aren't rethinking it, are you?"

"Not at all." Alex said with a smile. They all froze a moment later when they heard the front door open then he looked over at Norma walking inside and into the living room. "How was work?"

"It was good, we didn't have many guests today so I didn't have too much to do." Norma said, sitting on the couch beside them. "How was your guy's day? Cause any trouble?"

"I broke a lamp." Norman said.

Dylan groaned and looked over at him. "You weren't supposed to tell her that, I told you I could glue it back together."

"Which lamp?" Norma said then the house phone started ringing.

"I'll get it." Alex said, standing up.

"Aren't you going to help us defend ourselves?" Dylan asked.

"You're on your own now." Alex said, walking out of the room.

"So?" Norma asked, glaring at the both of them.

"The green one on my desk." Dylan said.

"How did you break it?"

Norman gave his best puppy dog look in hopes she wouldn't get too mad. "I accidentally hit it with a bouncy ball when I was playing slingshot."

"What did I tell you both about playing with those things in the house?"

"Not to do it." Norman said, shamefully.

"I really think I can fix it though, and we won't play with them in the house ever again." Dylan said.

"You don't have to fix it, I can buy you a new one. But you are right about not playing with those in the house anymore, if you do it again I'm taking them away for good."

"We won't, I promise." Dylan said.

"Yeah, promise." Norman said.

Alex walked back into the living room and placed his hands on the back of the couch, leaning toward them. "That was the guy that came and looked at your car earlier, he spoke with his wife and they decided they will take it. He said they can be here in an hour to pick it up."

"Someone actually wants it already?"

"Yeah, I told you someone would."

"I know, I just didn't expect it to happen this fast." Norma said with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Once it's gone we don't get to ride in it ever again?" Norman asked.

"That's what selling a car means Norman." Dylan told him.

"Then can we go for one more ride before he gets here?"

Norma smiled at Norman and ran a hand through his hair. "Of course we can." She said then he smiled and stood up.

"I want to come too." Dylan said, getting up.

"We can all go." Norma said.

"I'm gonna hang out here while you go, I wanna see if I can get in a quick nap before they get here." Alex told them.

"Alright, I'll come up and wake you once they're here." Norma said.

"Come on, if the cars not here when they come they might change their minds so we should hurry." Dylan said.

"Honey if seeing the car didn't change their minds nothing is going to." Norma said as her and the boys walked over to the front door to get their shoes on.

"Have fun." Alex said tiredly as he walked past them and upstairs.

They headed out to the car and got inside, both the boys sitting in the back like they always did. Norma started the car and they took off, driving to the highway she would take to work everyday. She thought about how it was a good idea to take it out for one last spin, she had been sad about getting rid of it but this was like a final goodbye they all deserved so they could move onto better things. When Norma was finally accepting the whole situation and feeling happy about it the car started to sputter, losing the power it had just had on the road.

"You've got to be kidding me." Norma said, pulling the car off to the side of the road just as it stopped running completely. She turned it off and tried to start it again but nothing happened.

"What's wrong with it?" Dylan asked.

"I don't know, it's not starting now. So much for selling this car today, they aren't gonna want to buy something that doesn't even run." Norma said, continuing to turn the key in hopes it would start. When the boys remained quiet she looked back at them and saw that they were both smiling. "What are you two grinning about?" She got out just before there was a knock on glass beside her. She looked over and saw Alex standing outside then she rolled down her window.

"Having car trouble?" Alex asked, a stoic look on his face he hadn't used much anymore.

"No, I just decided to park on the side of the road." Norma said with a smile. "The car just stopped working while I was driving."

"Pop the hood, I'll take a look." Alex said then she did as he asked. He walked around to the front of the car and opened it up, tinkering around a little. "Ah, I see the problem. Hop out and take a look at this." He said then Norma got out and walked beside him, the boys getting out too and standing in the grass so they could see.

"What is it?" Norma asked, looking around for a problem.

Alex reached into the car and pretended to pull out something that had already been held tightly inside the palm of his hand. "This was in there." He said, holding up the diamond ring. Norma stared at him in shock as he got down onto one knee in front of her. "Since the day I met you my life has been so different. It's a lot more tiring, much louder and I lose way more fights than usual." He said, making her laugh. "But with all that I have things I never truly had before. I have excitement, I have happiness, and most importantly I have a family. You all mean more to me than anything and I want to spend the rest of my life with each of you by my side." Alex said then he held up the ring to her. "Norma, will you marry me?"

"Yes." Norma said, wiping her tear filled eyes with one hand while she gave him the other. He smiled through his own tears and grabbed her hand, sliding the ring onto her finger. She took a moment to admire it while he stood up and wrapped his arms around her, sealing it with a kiss she pulled back from after a couple seconds. "Why do you taste like gasoline?"

"The only way I could think to get the car to stop was to take the gas out. I didn't have a pump to siphon it out of your car with so I had to do it the old fashion way. I've already brushed my teeth like twenty times but it's not an easy taste to get rid of."

"The sentiment is both romantic and disgusting at the same time."

"That's exactly what I was going for in a marriage proposal." Alex said then Norma pulled him in for one more quick kiss. When they pulled apart she wiped the rest of the tears from her face and looked over at the boys. "You two were in on this?"

"Yes." Norman said excitedly.

"Alex told us about it a few days ago, we wanted to help him plan it." Dylan said.

"So is someone coming to buy the car? Because you should have planned this out better if he's really going to be there soon."

"He told me earlier he would come buy it tomorrow, his bank wasn't open today. I rang the house phone with my cell while the boys were distracting you about the lamp."

"The lamp is really broken though." Dylan said. "When we told Norman we were going to tell you we broke a lamp playing with the slingshots he thought we actually meant he had to break it."

"It was the first time I was able to hit something on the first try." Norman said proudly.

"I can't believe you guys did all this, or that this is even happening." Norma said, wrapping her arm around Alex as a light rain started up.

Alex looked up at the clouds. "We should hurry back home, looks like a storm is rolling in."

"Ah, my car." Norma said, gesturing toward it.

"I brought the gas can with, it's in my car."

"Oh, can I pour it back in?" Dylan asked.

"If you are careful." Norma said then both the boys walked to Alex's car and grabbed it.

"So," Alex said, wrapping his arm around her. "Any regrets yet?"

"Not yet, give it a few minutes." Norma said, both of them smiling at each other.

"I love you." Alex said simply.

"I love you too." Norma said, leaning into kiss him again.

"Slow down, you're spilling it!" Norman said as he followed after his brother.

"I have to hurry, this thing is heavy." Dylan said, using both hands to lift the can.

"Here, let me get it into the tank then you both can help me pour it." Alex said, rushing over to them to help. After a few minutes they were all done and the rain was picking up so the boys hopped into the car quickly. "You can drive behind me, it's gonna be hard to see the roads in this rain." He said, turning to walk to his car.

Norma reached out and grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards her and into a kiss. "Thank you." She said as she pulled away, their faces still inches apart.

"For what?"

"For loving me."

Alex smiled. "You make it easy."

"Really?" She asked skeptically.

"Well, sometimes." He said, giving her another kiss. "I'll see you at home."

"Alright, see you at home." Norma said, getting into her car and waiting for Alex to get into his and start them off. She put her hands on the steering wheel and caught another glimpse of her ring, smiling at it. She was definitely ready to move onto better things with Alex by her side.


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: I meant to post this last weekend, but you know me and my upload schedules never seem to see eye to eye. Thank you for the feedback on the last chapter, the comment about the proposal honestly made me so happy! Back when I came up with it I gave a lot of thought to how and when I wanted the proposal, then it just hit me out of nowhere and I couldn't imagine any other way to do it. As for my upcoming fic I'm glad to hear there is some interest for it. I haven't been able to work on it anymore than the last time I brought it up, but as soon as I do I'll try and get it on here. So let me know what you think and enjoy!

Growing up Norma never really dreamed of getting married like the other girls did. She saw what her parent's marriage was like and she wanted nothing of the sort. Her friends always told her that would change when she met the right guy, she however didn't believe that would be true. With her past marriages she never got that feeling, even back when she thought she loved Sam she never felt that pure bliss that everyone spoke so highly of. It wasn't until Alex proposed that she started to feel it. How happy she felt knowing that she would be marrying him and getting to spend the rest of their lives together was nothing she had ever experienced before.

Norma held her hand out and looked at the newly placed ring on her finger, smiling to herself as she laid in Alex's arms.

"Is it safe to say you like the ring?" Alex asked, watching her admire it.

"I love it. I don't think there is any ring out there that would be more perfect than this one."

"I know my mom would have been happy with the woman I chose to give it too."

"I can't believe this is all finally happening. That things are working out for us and we get to build a whole new life together."

"Well from now on you only get the best, starting with the motel."

"Are you sure we can afford it? I'm not really going to have an income till after we've updated the place, and business starts picking up."

"We still both have a good amount of money in savings and we'll have even more once this house is sold. And with the deal Maggie is giving us we should be able to swing it."

"Even with the roof leaking in your room?" Dylan asked from his bed then they both looked over at him from their mattress on the floor.

"Maybe the new people would want the roof like that." Norman said, turning over in his bed to look at them.

"That's stupid, why would they want it like that?"

"Because they could just take the roof off and put the see through ceiling like they have at the planetarium."

"They don't have one of those."

"Then how come you can see all the stars from inside?"

"Those aren't real stars, it's like a projection or something."

"No, it isn't. They are real."

"No, they aren't."

"We don't have to worry about adding glass ceilings." Alex said, cutting in. "I'll call my insurance company tomorrow, they'll fix it before we list the place."

"Shouldn't we be worried that the night you proposed to me the roof opened up and started dropping water onto us. It could be a sign from the gods." Norma said.

"I think it's a sign that I should have had that roof checked out more than once in the whole time I've owned the place."

"You only checked it once?"

"The inspector did back when I bought it."

"Haven't you lived here like seven years?"

"Still think its a sign from the gods?"

"It's a sign that we are going to have to hire someone to look at our new one every year."

"Since Maggie's house has three bedrooms are me and Dylan going to get our own when we move?" Norman asked.

"If you want." Norma said.

"I've never had my own room. What if I don't like it?"

"We can have sleepovers for awhile in each others rooms till we get use to it." Dylan said. "Besides once they have a baby it can sleep in your room." He said then Norma and Alex both glanced at each other awkwardly.

"When are you having another baby?" Norman asked.

"It's a little early to be talking about this, we just got engaged twelve hours ago." Norma said then looked over at the clock on their wall. "It's already six-thirty, we should go downstairs and get started on breakfast."

After breakfast they got both the boys sent off to school before heading to work. Later that day Norma made sure to get home early before Dylan's bus came, it had only been a half day at the middle school. Dylan walked in the front door and hooked his backpack on the rack followed by his jacket, once he kicked off his shoes he walked further into the house.

"Norma." He called out, wondering if she had made it home like she said she would.

"In the kitchen." Norma said then he walked to the kitchen. "Be honest, you were secretly hoping I wouldn't be here yet so you could dance around in your underpants to Bob Seger?"

"Should I know what that means?" Dylan asked, taking a seat at one of the bar stools.

"Probably not, but you will one day." She said then walked to the cupboard and pulled out a bag of sugar.

"You know most people come home from their jobs and sit down to rest, not immediately start working when they get in the door."

Norma smiled and walked over to the counter, setting the sugar down. "I'm making homemade fudge for dessert tonight. I found an old cookbook while me and Alex were clearing out your room that belonged to his mom, she had this page dogeared." She said, playing with the corner of the book. "Alex said she would always make it for him anytime they were celebrating because it was his favorite."

"You really got this whole wife thing down already." Dylan joked.

"Well we will see about that. I don't have the best track record."

"But this one is gonna be different, my dad and Sam were losers. Alex is a good guy. He would never treat his kids how they treated us."

"What is with you and the mentioning of kids all a sudden?"

"You're getting married, marriage is usually followed by having kids together."

"Not always. I don't even know if Alex wants kids, we have never talked about it before."

"But don't you want more kids, ones with him?"

"Maybe, I really haven't given it too much thought."

"Why not? I would think you'd want to have a baby with someone you could actually count on."

"After Norman was born and Sam started to change I knew I didn't want to have another baby with him. And I didn't think I was ever going to get away from him so I kinda gave up on the idea of having more kids altogether."

"But things have changed, you don't have to give up on it anymore."

"Well I will think about it more before we start frightening Alex with any of this kind of talk."

"Alright."

"And hey, even if we don't end up having kids we will always have grandbabies someday to spoil."

"I hope you're talking about Norman, I'm never having kids."

"You might not think that way when you're older and in love." Norma said, going back to gathering the things she needed to bake with. "Speaking of which, you haven't told me if you got any girls at your school you like."

"That's because there isn't any."

"Oh come on, you're twelve. You must have started having crushes by now."

"There was this one girl, I kinda thought I liked her."

"The one who gave you the bracelet?" Norma asked, smiling at him.

"Yeah, but I don't really like her that way anymore."

"Why not? Did she say something mean to you?"

"No, she's really nice. I just don't think she's the type of girl I really care about. I don't want anything to happen to her, but I don't get that feeling that I've seen Alex get where he needs to take care of you or protect you."

"You think I need someone to take care of me?"

"I think everyone needs someone to look out for them, you taught me that."

"Yeah, you're right about that." Norma said with a smile. "And right now I could really use some young man who could hop up on the counter and get me the cocoa powder off the top shelf of the cupboard."

Dylan smiled and hopped off his chair. "I'm on it."

A couple hours later they had their fudge finished and Alex had already arrived home from work. The three of them decided to sit back and watch television while they waited for Norman to get home.

"Maybe we should take the fudge away from Alex before he steals a fourth piece." Dylan said, looking at the platter sitting on the coffee table in front of them.

"I'm not going to take anymore." Alex said.

"You said that after the second one."

"Not to mention they were supposed to be for after dinner." Norma added.

"Would you like me to bring them back to the kitchen so Norman doesn't try getting in them too?" Alex asked.

"Yeah right, like I trust you alone with them. I'll do it." Norma said then Dylan stopped her.

"It's alright, I got it." He said, standing up and taking the platter with him to the other room.

"Twenty bucks says he steals one while he's out there." Alex said.

"No thank you, I don't wanna lose twenty dollars today." Norma said, smiling over at him.

"So.. How was your day?"

"Well I had a guest puke on the front porch that I had to clean up, the sink in room six keeps clogging again, and we ran out of mints so I ended up putting a stick of gum on everyone's pillows. Aside from that it was the same as always."

"I didn't really mean it that way."

"Oh, you meant how was my first day being engaged to the handsome town sheriff? And do I have any regrets yet?"

"Do you?" Alex said, watching her closely.

"Not now, not ever." She said, making him smile.

"Even when I get fat from all the homemade goodies you make?"

"Even then." Norma said, scooting over on the couch and laying her back against him.

Alex wrapped his arm around her then looked over at Dylan as he walked back into the room. "How was the fudge?" He asked.

"I didn't have any." Dylan said defensively.

"Ah huh." Norma said, looking at him. "You got a little bit of chocolate right there." She said, touching the corner of her own lip.

Dylan's hand went up and quickly wiped his mouth, looking at his clean hand afterwards. "I didn't get any on my lip."

"No, you didn't." Norma said, smirking at him.

"Hey, at least I only had two." Dylan said, taking a seat on the chair.

Norma glanced over when the front door opened up and Norman walked inside, followed by Emma. "Emma, what are you doing here sweetie?" She asked while they got rid of their school stuff and walked into the living room.

"My parents said I could come over, as long as you are okay with it." Emma said.

"Of course, you are always welcome here."

"Thanks." Emma said then held out a couple of colorful papers to Norma and Alex. "Norman told me you were getting married, I made you cards."

"That is so nice of you, thank you." Norma said, grabbing hers.

"Thank you Emma." Alex said, taking his.

Emma watched as they read them with smiles. "You like them?"

"They are beautiful." Norma said.

Dylan leaned forward and looked at them. "They look awesome, way nicer than the lousy ones they sell at the store."

"And much more meaningful." Alex said.

"I'm glad you like them." Emma said then looked back at the boys. "I brought my Sorry game with if you want to play it."

"I call yellow." Dylan said, running toward the staircase.

"That's not fair, you had yellow the last two times." Norman yelled, hurrying behind him.

"You gotta call it faster next time." He said as they reached the top of the stairs.

"Why is being yellow so important?" Alex asked. "I thought their favorite colors were blue and green?"

"They kept calling them before I had a chance and I was always stuck with yellow or red, so I told them I saw a statistic in the news that said the person who started on yellow had a three to one ratio of getting all of their pieces home first." Emma explained.

"And they believed you?"

"They are boys, you start saying a bunch of words that sound smart and they are going to believe anything you say." Emma told them then walked off and grabbed her backpack before heading upstairs.

"That girl is going places in life." Norma said with a smirk.

"That doesn't really work, right?"

"Of course not. You have a keen sense of deception, you would never fall for such devious tactics. And I would never attempt to be so Machiavellian, if I ever sounded cultivated it would only be by happenstance."

"Very funny."

"I've been told I'm quite humorous."

"Ah ha, I believe you."

"That was the plan." Norma said with a smirk, laying back on him again.

After dinner was finished up Emma offered to help the boys load the dishwasher while the grown ups put away the leftovers and cleaned up the table. When they were about done the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Alex said, tossing the rag he was using in the sink. He walked over to the front door and opened it up, outside stood Will and Audrey Decody.

"Is Emma here?" Will asked.

"Yeah, she's in the kitchen." Alex said then they both shoved past him and into the house toward the kitchen. "Come on in." He said, shutting the door and following them.

"Emma, what are you doing here?" Audrey said as soon as they saw her.

"We were worried sick about you." Will added.

Norma looked at them confused. "Wait, I thought you knew she was coming over after school. She told us you said it was okay."

"No. We did not say that she could come here, she never even asked." Her mother said, looking at her scoldingly. "What were you thinking? You almost gave us a heart attack."

"If you were so worried about me why did it take you so long to check the one place you knew I would be?" Emma asked. "I've been here two hours."

"I just got into town, work ran late today." Will said.

"But mom was home the whole time, why didn't she come look for me?"

"I was busy and the time got away from me." Audrey said. "I hadn't even noticed it was time for you to be home yet or I would have come looking."

"Yeah right, you were probably packing."

"Are you going on a trip?" Norman asked.

"No, my mom is leaving us because I'm too much for her to handle."

"You know that is not true. I got a great job offer and I told you you can come live with me once I'm all settled in." Audrey told her.

"I don't want to move with you, I don't want to move anywhere."

"Let's go talk about this at home." Will said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Why?" She asked, brushing him off. "It's not our home anymore."

"It is still our home."

"You haven't lived with us in two years, and after next week it won't be any of our homes."

Norma cut in. "Wait, you are moving next week?"

"She is coming to stay with me in Seattle." Will said.

"What about her school? It's the middle of the year."

"We're having her transferred, she's gonna finish out the rest of her year there before Will's job starts in Manchester next fall." Audrey said.

"No." Norman said, his eyes lining with tears. "I don't want Emma to go to a different school, I don't want her to move."

"Just because we are moving doesn't mean you can't still see each other. We will come visit, and you can talk on the phone." Will said.

"That's not the same." He said, running past them and up the stairs to his room.

Will looked over at Dylan, ready to say something reassuring to him when he cut him off. "You don't have to sugarcoat it for me, I know we're never going to get to see her again."

"You will see her again, we are going to come as much as we can."

"You barely visit town now and you are coming to see your often are you going to show up for a couple of random friends when you are living in another country?"

"Dylan." Norma said, rubbing his back gently. "Right now is not a good time to talk about this, go upstairs and talk to your brother. I'll be up in a bit." She said then he walked away, glaring at them both on his way.

"I'm really sorry they had to find out this way." Will said.

"I'm sure they wouldn't have taken it well anyway you tried." Norma said.

"Thank you for having her over today, whether it was planned or not."

"Of course."

"Come on Emma, let's go." He said then she followed them out.

"I can't believe they are moving, Emma is the closest friend they've ever had." Norma said sadly. "I'm gonna go talk to the boys, make sure they are alright." She told him before heading upstairs.

Alex looked out the front window at the Decody's walking to their car then decided to hurry outside. "Will." He said, catching up with him on the sidewalk while the girls got into the car.

"Yes?"

"Can I talk to you a minute?" Alex asked, getting him to walk back to him. "I know that moving is your family's business, but is there any other way?"

"I can't base my career off of Emma's childhood friends. She will make new ones, and so will they."

"They aren't just a group of kids that bonded over their favorite video game. They have a connection most people don't have till they are our age. You're daughter has been through so much, and so have those boys. Other kids aren't going to understand each other like they do."

"I wish I could change this, but Audrey is set on taking that job."

"What about you moving into the shop house instead of selling it? There must be colleges you could work at around here."

"I already spoke with a few and one offered me a position, but the salary isn't nearly as much as I'd be making in Manchester. I would have loved to stay at the house so Emma wouldn't have to move and I'd have much more time with her, but I wouldn't be making enough to support us that way."

"You could use the shop as a second business, maybe a place to work on your taxidermy."

"That's just a hobby."

"People around here love that stuff, and it would make you extra money. They are always talking about how great the stuffed bear you did for the club is. And they have been looking for someone to do more business with them, your name always comes up."

Will glanced back at his car, looking at Emma sitting in the backseat with a sad look on her face. "I will think about it."

"Thank you." Alex said then Will walked over to the drivers side and got in.


	43. Chapter 43

A/N: These last three chapters are gonna be all story lines I had planned for the ending of this fic from the very beginning, so I am so excited to finally be able to share them with you all. I'm going to try and get the rest of it up in the next couple weeks here if I can find the time, but you can count on me _(hopefully)_ having it all up before the months end. So please let me know what you think and enjoy!

The weekend passed by slowly, with the news of Emma moving the boys were especially moody. And they couldn't blame them for being that way. For the first time they had a friend who didn't have to just deal with normal kid problems like not getting a toy they wanted or having trouble with their homework. She had real adult level issues, be it physical health related compared to their problems in the past which caused more of a risk to their mental health. It hurt Norma and Alex watching them feel as though they were losing her, they had both imagined the kids would grow up together and carry their friendship through their adulthood.

When Monday rolled around Alex sat at his work desk, going through some reports when there was a knock at his office door.

"Come in." Alex said, looking up as the door opened.

"I have a Will Decody here, he's asking to see you." Regina said.

"Yeah, send him in." Alex said then she turned back and let him walk past her into the office, shutting the door once he was inside to give them their privacy. He stood up and gave him a gesture to sit in one of the chairs, retaking his own seat as Will sat down.

"I'm sorry to bother you at work but I have to be heading back to Seattle tonight yet and it's a long drive." Will said. "I had already missed a days work staying in town longer."

"That's alright, we don't have much going on here anyways." Alex said, closing up his file and moving it aside to give him his full attention. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I ended up speaking with the director at the university I had told you about, they said they were willing to pay me a higher salary to transfer over to their school. It's still not what I was offered to work in Manchester but I spoke with the club too and they are still willing to send some work my way. With how hard Emma was taking the move and my worries about having less time with her staying here feels like the more reasonable decision. I went in for the interview today and they said I could start as early as next week."

Alex smiled lightly. "Well I'm glad. The boys are going to be ecstatic when they hear about it, and I'm sure Emma is happy."

"She definitely is. She was already trying to call Dylan and Norman to tell them but I told her to let you do it after I talked to you."

"So you'll be moving here later in the week?"

"That is actually another thing I wanted to talk with you about. Aubrey's flight is Friday afternoon but I'm not able to make it back here till Sunday evening. I thought about driving back to pick up Emma and bringing her to Seattle for the weekend with me but I don't have much time to pack up and I don't think it'd be a whole lot of fun for her to watch me load boxes. I was wondering if maybe she could come over after school Friday and stay with you and Norma till I get back."

"Yeah, I'm sure Norma would be alright with that."

"Thank you, and I can pay you too for taking care of her."

"Don't worry about it. The boys actually act better when she's around, she keeps them in line. Which makes our lives a lot easier."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. And when you get back to town you can take them off our hands for a night, I'm sure that would be more than enough of a payment for having someone as well behaved as Emma over."

"Thank you." Will said, standing up. He shook his hand then they said their goodbyes so he could get on the road.

Over at the motel Norma and the boys were up at the house. Maggie had asked if they would be willing to help her pack up the place for some extra cash and they took her up on the offer. Norma actually enjoyed packing when it wasn't rushed, she liked sorting things and finding the best ways to fit them into the boxes. It would have been more enjoyable if the boys were in a better mood. So far she had only gotten attitude when she told them which places to put things, and they had already fought over who got to build to boxes. Dylan ending up with the job after one of the ones Norman had made fell apart and dumped everything they had packed in it to the floor.

"Ouch." Dylan said, pulling his hand away from the tape roller and putting the tip of his thumb into his mouth.

"What did you do?" Norma asked, looking over at him from where she had set up her packing station. "Are you okay?"

"I cut my finger on the thing that cuts the tape. And I'm fine, it just burns a little."

"See, you mess up when you are making the boxes too." Norman said from the floor where he was reloading the newly secured box.

"Why don't you do less talking and just clean up your mess." Dylan said, picking up one of the handbags off the floor and tossing it at him.

"Mother, he threw a bag at me." Norman whined.

"What is the point of telling her when she saw me do it?"

"Okay, both of you knock it off right now otherwise I'll set you up in separate motel rooms and you won't be getting any of the things we talked about for helping." Norma said just as Alex walked into the room.

"Oh, what things?" Alex asked, joining in their conversation.

"I promised them a pizza night and a new video game if they packed the house with me." Norma told him.

"I don't know you guys, that sounds like a pretty sweet deal to be giving up."

"Dylan started it." Norman said.

"I did not." Dylan defended.

"But who's gonna be the bigger person and end it?" Alex asked and they both looked at each other.

"Sorry." Dylan said, getting onto the floor to help Norman fill the box.

"Me too." Norman said.

Alex smiled and walked over to Norma, giving her a kiss. "How was your day?" He asked.

"You just got a little taste of what my day has been like." Norma said, nodding over at the boys. "Ever since they got off school they have been crabby to me and bickering with each other."

"I think I might have something that will do the trick. Come on." Alex said, lightly pushing on her back to get her to follow him over to them. "How would you guys like to have a full weekend sleepover with Emma?"

"How?" Norman asked. "She's moving Friday."

"The plans changed."

"What does it matter?" Dylan asked. "One weekend isn't going to change anything. She'll still be moving and we will probably never see her again. Might as well cut the ties now."

"You'll be able to see her again, she only lives a few minutes up the road."

They both shared confused looked then Dylan started to catch on. "Wait, she's not moving anymore?"

"Will is moving into their house after Audrey leaves, he's going to keep Emma with him so she doesn't have to leave." Alex said and all their faces lit up.

"Really?" Norman asked, jumping up off the floor.

Alex nodded. "She's going to stay with us over the weekend while her dad packs up his place. Although I think she wanted to tell you herself, so when you call her just pretend I didn't say anything."

"Can we call her now?" Dylan asked, standing up.

"Yeah-" Norma said and they started running off before she had even finished talking. "Not too long or I'll have to remove a slice of pizza from the deal." She yelled as they got out of sight.

"I hope it's alright I offered for us to watch her."

"Are you kidding me? I should take her for a month just for managing to cheer them up." She said with a smile, wrapping her arm around him. "I'm so happy she's not moving away. I wonder what changed their minds."

"Who knows." Alex said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "So now that I'm here why don't you put me to work."

"What do I gotta offer you?"

"Well I'll take the pizza, but I will be needing a substitute for the video game."

"Any ideas as to what?"

"I've got a few things in mind." Alex said with a smirk.

"I bet you do." Norma said, turning her head so they were face to face.

"Something really sweet." Alex whispered, moving in closer to her.

"Oh yeah?" Norma asked, there lips almost touching.

"I'm thinking some more of that homemade fudge."

Norma laughed softly. "Get away from me." She said jokingly, pushing his face away to the side with her hand.

"What? I was going to eat it off of you." Alex said, turning his head back to her.

"You must be planning on packing up our place too if you're thinking you get all that."

Alex smiled then leaned in to kiss her deeply. "Fine, I'll give up the pizza." He said as he pulled away.

After the school week had passed Emma said goodbye to her mother, for how long she still wasn't sure. She hadn't seemed too broken up about it, but that wasn't surprising considering how poorly she took care of her. It hadn't been long after she dropped her off at their place that she was running around the house with the boys playing laser tag, the thing they had decided on getting over the video game.

"Wait a minute, I gotta reload." Emma called out, walking over to sit on the couch.

"These aren't reloadable guns." Dylan said, following her over to the living room along with Norman.

"I meant on air." She said, grabbing her inhaler out of her pocket and taking a couple puffs.

"What is that?" Norman asked.

"It's medicine. I breathe it in and it helps open my airways back up."

"Is it scary when they start to close up?" Dylan asked.

"It was at first, I've gotten used to it. It's like when you are at the pool and your head is under the water, if I can get them open again quick enough it just feels like I came up from the water right as I was running out of breath."

"And if you don't get them open is it like drowning?"

"I've heard it is, I never had a bad attack though. My dad is paranoid so he leaves inhalers all around the house, and I have an extra one in my bag since this one is getting low." Emma said, taking another puff of it before putting it back into her pocket. "But enough of my sad stories, I only need one more shot to take you out of the game."

"You still need two."

Emma stood up and shot Dylan quick. "Not anymore!" She yelled, running off.

"That's not fair." Dylan said, looking over at Norman. "Let's get her."

At supper that evening they all sat down at the dining table for pizza night, the boys wanting to share their reward for a week of work with their friend.

"Ah, it's even better than I remember." Dylan said after taking a bite.

"You know Alex is the one who told me about Giovanni's having the best pizza." Norma said.

"Really? I just thought you searched around for the best kind. Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because you probably would have spit it back out if you knew it was his idea."

"I would not have."

"Yes you would have. And then you would have accused him of flirting with me again."

"I do reel all the girls in with my knowledge of great pizza." Alex added.

"Well I might have did that part." Dylan said. "But I wouldn't have spit out this pizza."

Norma smiled then looked over at Emma. "So Emma, are you excited for your dad to be moving here?"

"Yes. I always miss him a lot when he's gone, now I'm going to get to see him all the time. And I like that I don't have to move anywhere new. I was already worried about missing your wedding, I have never been to one."

"Mine is going to be your first?"

"Yup. That is unless someone else I know gets engaged and has theirs before yours."

Norma looked across the table at Alex. "We better start planning then so no one else can swoop in and steal her first wedding."

"Well we could do it right now but then we are all going to look bloated in the wedding photos." Alex joked.

"Do you have a date set yet?" Emma asked.

"No, we haven't really talked about the wedding planning yet."

"My mom says it's important to set a date when you get engaged. My parents didn't pick one and it took them three years to get married. She went into labor with me on their honeymoon."

"I don't think it's going to take us three years." Norma said with a chuckle.

"Neither did they, that's why you always gotta set a date. You never know how much goes into it till you start planning."

"Norma's been married twice before, I think she knows when to plan them by now." Dylan joked.

Norma ignored the mention of her last marriages, taking a sip of her water. Alex noticed her mood shift and decided to change the subject. "Well whenever we end up having it I think it's best if we don't let Norman hold onto the rings, he's got sticky fingers."

"I can wash my hands." Norman defended.

"I didn't mean it that way." Alex said with a chuckle. "I meant that you steal things, like another slice of pizza while we were all busy talking about wedding dates."

"Norman, you're going to be sick later." Norma said, trying not to laugh at his caught face.

"It's so good though." Norman said, holding onto the slice for dear life as if they were going to take it away.

"Enjoy your stomach ache later." Norma said then he smiled and took another bite.

"So are you going to have people in your wedding, like bridesmaids and best men?" Emma asked.

"Maybe. I guess it depends on where we have it and how many people we invite. If we end up doing something small it might be strange to have most of the guests standing up with us and a few people sitting in chairs."

"You could do one friend each with you then it wouldn't look so weird."

"That's a good idea, we'll definitely think about that if we go for a smaller wedding."

They talked the rest of supper about ideas for the wedding, Emma seeming most excited about the whole thing. Afterwards Alex walked out into the kitchen and threw away the paper plates and napkins from dinner then went over to the sink to wash his hands. Norma was putting away the leftover pizza and he watched her as he dried his hands.

"You getting a good look?" Norma asked, peeking back at him.

"How did you know?"

"I've got my ways." She said, shutting the fridge and turning to face him. "That and I saw your reflection in the fridge drawers. You shouldn't get any ideas, judging by their energy levels the kids aren't going to sleep for hours."

"I wasn't looking at you like that."

"Oh, what were you looking at me like then?"

"I was trying to picture what you are going to look like on our wedding day."

"You were?" Norma asked and he nodded. "How did I look?"

"Beautiful, but that's obvious." Alex said, making her smile.

"In this picture do you see where we are? It would help a lot to know so I don't have to go looking for a place."

"No, sorry I don't." Alex said with a laugh. "I don't know if this is the right time to bring this up but I saw before at the dinner table how you looked when Dylan brought up your last weddings, you seemed a little upset."

Norma's smile dropped thinking about them. "Yeah, they weren't the catalog version of weddings."

"What were they like?"

"Um, my first wedding was when I was about three months pregnant with Dylan. I had kept him a secret from everyone for a few weeks while I was deciding what to do, then I came up with the plan to tell my boyfriend John that it was his baby. When he found out he did not react the way I thought he would. He asked me how I could let it happen and how his family had always told him I was nothing but trouble. I went home balling my eyes out, and not because I loved him because I didn't. It was because he had ruined my plan, the one way that I had to get away from my family. I ended up telling my parents that night, and my father freaked out. He told me that I was a whore and that he was taking me tomorrow to get rid of the baby. And at that point I couldn't do that, he wasn't born but I loved him." Norma said, her eyes started lining with tears then she ran her hand across her belly where her son had once been.

"Hey." Alex said, walking over to her and grabbing a hold of her hand. "We don't have to talk about this, you can forget I ever asked."

"No, I'm fine." Norma said, shaking off the emotions she was feeling. "I think part of why I haven't thought much about our wedding is because I keep thinking about the ones I had. It will help if I can tell you and just put it behind me."

"Okay, keep going." Alex said, squeezing her hand.

"So back to that night. I was up in my bedroom after a horrific couple of hours dealing with my parents and all a sudden I hear this noise on my window. It was little pebbles hitting the glass, just like in the movies. When I got to the window I saw John standing in my yard, waving for me sneak outside. Once I did he said he was sorry and that he didn't mean the things he had said, he was just shocked. He told me he didn't want to be an absent father because he had grown up that way and then he asked me to run away with him and get married so we can have a real family together. It was actually what I wanted so I said yes, really only thinking of it as an escape. He found someone who was willing to fake our parents consent and marry us for a couple hundred dollars. We said our vows in a random parking lot of a store that had gone out of business." Norma said, laughing a little at how ridiculous it had been. "And with Sam, well that isn't much of a story. A month after my divorce to John was finalized I found out about Norman. I told him about it and he dragged me to Vegas to get married at the chapel his parents had used, it was far from classy."

"You didn't get to plan either of them?"

"No. And they both happened so fast, maybe if I had waited longer I would have saw that things weren't going to work out with them."

"Tell you what, we can wait a few months or we can wait thirty years. No matter what whenever you are ready I'm going to be there."

Norma smiled. "No. I don't need to wait anymore, I already know for sure I wanna marry you."

"Well it's settled then, we're getting married right now. We'll go quick and the kids won't even have to know we left." Alex joked, making her roll her eyes at him.

"How about we just start planning it instead. Like you said we can't be bloated on our wedding day."

"Well you could be, they got those corsets for that. If I try wearing a tux right now there would be buttons flying everywhere, it would be a disaster."

"I love you." Norma said, smiling at him.

"Always a good thing in a marriage." He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and walking with her to the living room so they could sit down and start talking about plans for their big day.

The next afternoon after lunch Norma and Alex sat down with some bridal magazines she had picked up from the supermarket, skimming through all the pages.

"Seeing anything you like?" Norma asked, looking over at Alex who seemed to be lost in a sea of wedding dress pictures.

"Are any of these actually different dresses?" He asked, looking up from the magazine.

Norma laughed. "Of course they are."

"They all look the same to me."

"Yeah well that's because you are a guy." Norma said, flipping to the next page in her book.

"Oh, I found the one." Alex said, pointing at a tight fitting dress with a cut so low she might as well be wearing nothing at all.

"Are you crazy? I can't wear something that revealing at our wedding."

"I was thinking more for after the ceremony, maybe when we're on our honeymoon." Alex said with a smirk.

"Can you two keep it PG up there." A voice from under the table said.

Norma and Alex both looked at each other then under the table. "Dylan, what are you doing under there?" She asked.

"Shh, don't say my name so loud or they'll find me." He said, peeking his head out to make sure no one was around.

"There he is!" Norman yelled to Emma from behind the living room couch then Dylan climbed out and ran off quick, both of them chasing him around the room trying to shoot him with their laser tag guns.

"Hey, time out on the game." Norma said, getting tired of them running by the table every few seconds.

"Why?" Norman asked, stopping in place.

"Take it upstairs please, we are trying to plan a wedding here."

"Fine, let's go." Dylan said, running off upstairs with both the younger kids following him.

Alex watched and made sure they got all the way upstairs then turned to Norma. "So back to this dress."

Norma shook her head at him and smiled. "In your dreams."

"Oh trust me, it will be." Alex said while looking at the dress again then Norma grabbed the magazine away from him.

Upstairs the kids were still playing their game, opening up all the rooms so they had more places to hide. It was Dylan and Norman's turn to try and find Emma and they had to give her credit because she was a very skillful hider.

"Wait." Dylan whispered, stopping Norman as they tiptoed through Alex and Norma's room. "Did you hear that?"

"Sounded like it was coming from under the bed." Norman said then they crept over to the bed, smiling at each other as they lifted up the bed skirt to look underneath the mattress. "She's not under here, just one of my remote cars."

"It looks like it's turned on." Dylan said, looking at the toy when they heard the patter of footsteps running out from the master bathroom and into the hallway. Their heads both shot up and they looked at the now empty room. "She tricked us, she used your car to make us think she was under the bed."

"What are we waiting for, let's go get her!" Norman said, the both of them taking off to find her.

Dylan got to their bedroom door first and stopped in his tracks when he saw Emma, her hands clenched to her inhaler as she struggled to get a breath of air. "Emma, are you okay?" He asked, Norman finally getting to the doorway with him.

She shook her head quickly and rattled her inhaler, signalling to her bag. "What's wrong with her?" Norman asked. "Why isn't it working."

"It's empty." Dylan said, rushing over to her bag and opening it. He shuffled things around inside and when that was taking too long he dumped on the contents onto the floor and found her extra inhaler in the pile. He picked it up and brought it to her, helping her grip her hand around it as he handed it to her. She shook it and tried to take a puff a few times, violently shaking it afterwards.

"Emma, what's happening?" Norman asked.

"She can't talk right now." Dylan said, bending down beside her. "Is that one not working either?" He asked then Emma nodded her head yes. "Norman, go get mom. Hurry!"

Norman turned around and ran downstairs as quickly as possible, darting towards the dining room. "Hey." Norma said, looking up at him. "I said no game down here."

"It's Emma, she needs help. Her inhaler isn't working and she can't breathe." Norman said, his voice filled with fear.

Norma and Alex hopped up without another word and the three of them hurried back upstairs. When they got inside the room they looked at the floor where Emma was sitting, Dylan on his knees next to her trying his best to comfort her while she gasped for air.

"You need to help her, she can't breathe." Dylan said, crying as he spoke.

Alex bent down and scooped Emma off the floor, lifting her into his arms. "Come help me." He said as he headed for the other room. None of them knew who he was talking to but there was no way that they weren't all going to follow him anyways. When they got into the master room he brought her into the bathroom, each of them walking in with him. "Shut the door behind you."

"Got it." Norman said, closing the door with all of them inside.

"Dylan, reach in the shower and turn it on. As hot as possible." Alex said as he sat on the floor, laying Emma's back against his chest while Dylan did as he asked. He put one arm around the front of her to keep her from falling forwards as he patted on her back with his other hand as hard as he felt was safe. Steam was already filling the room then like magic Emma started to cough, turning her head off to the side to throw up some phlegm. He took the hand he was using to pat her and grabbed onto her hair, making sure it wasn't in the way. "It's okay, get it all out."

Norma kneeled onto the floor in front of them and put a hand onto Emma's cheek after she had finished. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I feel a lot better now." Emma said, exhaustively falling back onto Alex's chest.

"Norman, can you wet a rag for me sweetie?" Norma asked then he nodded and did it, handing her it afterwards. She took it and gently wiped Emma's face, making sure she was all cleaned up.

"Sorry about throwing up on your floor."

Dylan stepped closer to her. "Don't worry about it, we've thrown up in much worse places before." He said, pointing between him and Norman, making her smile weakly.

"I'm gonna bring her to the hospital." Alex said, moving her forward a bit so he could stand up. "Make sure she's okay now and get her more medication." He said, picking her back up.

"We'll all go." Norma said, putting a hand on Emma's shin and rubbing it. "And we'll call your dad on the way, let him know what happened." She said and Emma nodded, nustling her head up to Alex as she tried staying awake.

It only took a few hours before Will was right by Emma's side at the hospital, he dropped everything and drove to town the second they told him. The doctor had decided on keeping her overnight to make sure she didn't have any more bad attacks, although unlikely now that she had her medicine again. It had turned out the extra inhaler her mom had packed her was an old empty one so it was no surprise that did nothing to help her.

Will stood up from beside Emma's bedside and walked over to Norma and Alex who were standing in the corner of the room. "Thank you for taking care of my girl today."

"Of course." Alex said.

"These things really put things into perspective, don't they? I could lose her at any moment." Will said, glancing back at his sleeping daughter. "I wanna be able to give her every bit of happiness possible while I can." He said then looked over at Alex. "Thank you for talking me into moving here, it's comforting to know she has people like you all in her life."

Norma smiled at Alex then looked back at him. "We like having her in our lives too."

"I'm going to set up a couple chairs and rest awhile. I'm sure you have something to do yet."

"The only plans we had today was to go over and help a friend finish packing, I know she would be fine if we stayed."

"Oh don't worry about it, this isn't my first hospital stay with Emma. Go help out your friend and I can call you with any updates."

Norma looked over at Emma. "Would it be okay if we woke her to say goodbye?"

"I think she would be upset if you didn't." Will said then the they walked over to the kids, Norma stopping and grabbing a flower off a bouquet in the room before going over to her. "Emma, can you say goodbye to your friends before they go?" He asked, waking her.

"Yeah." Emma said, sitting up slowly in her bed.

"Bye Emma, see you tomorrow." Norman said, climbing on the bed to hug her goodbye.

Dylan walked over and leaned in to hug her. "I'm glad you are okay." He said as he held onto her. "When you're feeling better we'll rematch, just no remote cars next time."

"Got it." Emma said then she looked over at Alex. "Thank you for helping me."

"Anytime." He said, giving her a hug.

Norma walked over and sat on the side of the bed. "Me and Alex actually have something we were going to ask you tonight." She said then held out the flower for her to take.

"What is this for?" Emma asked, grabbing it from her.

"We would love it if you would be apart of our wedding. We think you'd make the perfect flower girl." Norma said and Emma smiled big.

"Thank you." She said, leaning in and hugging her.

After the group had finished their goodbyes they went straight to Maggie's place afterwards, having a little bit of packing left to do only. Norma told the boys to just rest while they finished up, setting them downstairs in front of the television. Her and Alex had one room left to work on, the one that kept random items from the Summer's grandparents.

"I can't stop thinking about what happened with Emma." Norma said.

"It's tough to deal with but she's got cystic fibrosis, it isn't always going to be easy days with her." Alex said.

"I know that, but what happened today could have been avoided." Norma said, stopping what she was doing to look at him. "I'm really glad that Emma is going to be living with Will now because what kind of mother doesn't make sure her sick child has enough medication when they have something that serious."

"I don't know, I can't believe it either." Alex said while taping up the box he had been packing then stood up and walked over to Norma. "But she is okay now."

Norma reached over and grabbed his hand. "You know, you were great today with her."

"I'm trained to think fast in situations like that."

"It wasn't only that, you were so gentle with her. It was really sweet." Norma said with a smile. "You're gonna make a great dad someday." She said absently, looking at him with regret the moment it left her mouth. "I don't mean that you are going to be a dad, or that you ever will be. I just mean like in general you have the traits that would help be a good one, if you ever were one that is-"

"Norma, stop." Alex said, cutting her off. "I love the idea of having kids with you someday."

"Really?" Norma asked, still a little flustered.

Alex nodded at her and smiled. "I never thought I would want kids, but after getting so close with Dylan and Norman I kept thinking about how badly I wish I could have seen them grow into the kids they are now. I wouldn't mind getting the chance to experience that with my own kid, especially if I get to share it with you. If you still want more kids that is."

"With you, I would love it too."

"I sure hope it would be with me." Alex joked.

Norma looked down at the box she was in the middle of packing. "God, I can't believe we just had our first kids talk over a box of beanie babies."

"There really isn't a better place to have the talk than the home we would be raising them in." He said then Norma looked around the room and glanced out the window. "What is it?"

"We should have it here."

"The wedding?" Alex asked, assuming that is what she meant.

"Yes." Norma said, her expression lighting up. "This place has been with us since the beginning. It's where you took me and the boys when we had nowhere else to go, where we first started to fall in love. And it is going to be our home for the rest of our lives. We don't need it too be anything extravagant, we could set up chairs on the lawn and invite our close friends to join us."

"It sounds perfect to me." Alex said, wrapping his arm around her as they looked out the window together at where they would be getting married.


	44. Chapter 44

A/N: The fact that we are this close to the end is so unreal feeling to me. I'll spare you all my emotional ranting till the next chapter, but I'm super excited and equally sad to have this fic finished soon. Thank you for all the kind feedback from the previous chapter, that was a fun one for me to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it. This chapter is going to be the last one in the present time of when this story takes place, the next one is going to flash forward a bit. Also I'm going to be posting the first chapter of my newest story today! I'm gonna upload around the same time as this one so it might take longer to show, but if you are interested be sure to watch out for it. As always let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Over a month had passed already and the days leading up to the wedding grew fewer and fewer. Once they had decided on the motel as their location everything else started to fall into place perfectly and they managed to set a date during the kid's spring break off from school. Their wedding day fell the day before they were set for closing on their soon to be home and business. It was safe to say they were cutting everything a little close.

"Amanda get here yet?" Alex asked Norma, walking in to find her standing in the motel office.

"Nope." Norma said. "She said she had two hours left, that was about three hours ago. So she should be here any minute." She added sarcastically.

"What's taking her so long?"

"I have no clue. I don't understand why she didn't just accept my offer to buy her a plane ticket here instead of driving all this way."

"She's stubborn, that's probably why you two get along so well."

"Haha." Norma said, looking at the clock again. "What if she took a sharp turn off a mountain road? It would be just my luck for my best friend to die on her way to my wedding."

"I'm glad we're staying optimistic." Alex said with a smirk, walking over and wrapping his hands around her waist and turning her to face him. "She is fine, and she will be here soon."

"Aren't you mister glass half full today."

"I can't help it, I'm marrying the woman of my dreams tomorrow."

"Sweet talking me is not going to calm me down."

"Really?" Alex said, pulling her closer. "How about this?" He said, leaning in to kiss her deeply.

Norma pulled back and smiled. "Okay, that helped a little."

"Just a little?"

"Maybe try again." Norma said then he went back in for a much longer kiss till they were interrupted by a throat clearing.

"I'm all for staying to watch, but I was hoping I could get a hello hug first?" Amanda said, smirking at them as she stood in the doorway.

"Sure, now she shows up." Alex whispered as Norma let go of him and walked over to her friend.

"You finally made it." Norma said happily, pulling her into a hug.

"I know, I got lost out on highway seven."

"You don't take seven to get here." Alex said from behind them.

"You can see why it took me so long." Amanda said, walking over to give him a quick hug. "Nice seeing you again."

"You too."

"So, where is Dylan and the little man who stole the maid of honor title away from me?"

"The boys went over to their friends house for a sleepover." Norma said. "And don't take it too personal, I just thought Norman would look so cute in the dress." She joked.

"Now if he was actually wearing a dress I would have been fine with it. It would be better than the time he talked Dylan into letting him put your makeup on him."

"I hope you still have pictures of that." Alex said.

"I'm saving them to show off on his wedding night." Amanda joked. "Although I hope you don't think just because I'm not the maid of honor you aren't going to get a bachelorette party."

"As long as said party is us sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and getting to bed by ten pm then I'm happy." Norma said.

"Bed by nine o'clock, we're not animals Norma."

Norma smiled then looked over at Alex. "So what do you and Oliver have planned tonight, you two going to hit up a strip club on your last night as an unmarried man?"

"I hope not, I don't like strip clubs." Alex said.

"Good answer." Amanda said with a grin.

"I'm not lying. The few times I've been to one I hated it."

"You hated drinking and watching half naked women prance around you?"

"The drinking part I liked. But I'm happy looking at the woman I already have, not some strangers."

"Tell you what, you get home early enough and I'll strip for you." Norma said, smirking over at him.

"In that case I will stop by the bank on the way home and get a stack of ones." Alex said, hooking an arm around her.

"You know you guys would be sickening if you weren't so damn cute." Amanda said as she watched them happily glancing at each other.

"Thanks." Norma said, smiling over at her friend before looking back at Alex. "So are you going to be able to pick up the chairs today?"

"I got some time now." Alex said. "Do you have a final headcount yet?"

"Um." Norma said, walking over to the desk and pulling out her binder. "The only one who didn't RSVP was Audrey, and Will told me she's been too busy with work to make it out here to visit them so I'm gonna go with a no on her." She said, handing him the list.

"Then we have enough room for Regina, I told her she could come too."

"I thought we agreed to only inviting the people we are really close with."

"She overheard Stanley talking to me about the wedding and she congratulated me and asked about how we were doing it. I didn't want to say it was in town and not invite her. Besides she is probably going to be working for me a long time and we will get to know her. And I think you will like her, she hasn't tried to hit on me once yet."

"What?" Amanda said. "Is that a problem you have often with co workers?"

"Just with the last one." Norma said.

"And occasionally Oliver." Alex added. "He gets handsy when he drinks."

"I'm still not convinced that's because of the booze, I think he is just using it as an excuse."

Alex smiled then leaned in and gave Norma a quick kiss. "I'll see you later, call if you need anything." He told her before leaving.

Amanda watched as Alex left the office and looked back at Norma, a smirk on her face. "God, that man is even hotter than I remembered."

"Hey, be careful, that's my future husband you're talking about." Norma said, smiling back at her.

"Can't blame a girl for looking." Amanda said, walking toward Norma and grabbing her hand. "Although this rock has my eye right now." She said, turning her hand to admire the ring better.

"It was his mother's." Norma said, glaring down at it proudly.

"It is absolutely beautiful." She said, letting go of her hand. "You're a lucky lady Norma, in more ways than one."

"Well it took me long enough to get to here."

"I always knew you could do it, you're the toughest chick around."

"Thank you." Norma said, smiling over at her. "So should I help you to your room, or would you like a tour first?"

"Definitely tour first. I need to stretch, and I've been dying to see this place since you brought it up."

Norma grabbed the ' _Be back soon'_ sign out of the top drawer of her desk and hooked it on the door, leading her friend out of the office. "Maggie's out at her new house already but she left me a key to start setting up the place, it's a bit of a mess right now with all the boxes lying around." She said as they started walking the steps to the house.

"You might want to invest in a zip line to get you to and from the place." Amanda said, looking up toward the house that seemed far away still.

"I've actually gotten use to them, I came up everyday to cook when I was living in the motel."

"At least you won't have to go to the gym, they will be enough for a work out." She said as they reached the top.

Norma reached into her blouse and pulled out a set of keys, going to the shiny new one and putting it into the lock to open the door. "Here it is." She said, both of them smiling as they glanced around the house.

"Oh no, more stairs." Amanda said with a chuckle, looking at the long staircase.

"I won't subject you to them just yet, I wanna show you the kitchen first." Norma said, guiding her down the hallway.

"Norma, this is amazing." Amanda said, looking around the room. "You always brought up wanting a nice big kitchen."

"And it's not even set up yet." Norma said, walking to the middle of the room. "I'm going to put a small dining table here so the boys can sit down at it and play their games or do their homework." She said, going over to the back door. "Then Alex said he is gonna put in a fenced in area out this door so they can go outside where I can see them from the kitchen, and we can let the dog out here."

"Sounds like you have a lot of nice plans for this place." Amanda said, smiling at how happy she looked as she told her about everything.

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if we are ever going to get to all of them. The boys are trying to talk Alex into helping them build a tree house in that big tree way in the backyard. I had to tell them we have to handle all the necessary fixes and upgrades before we worry about the fun stuff."

"I'm sure you guys will get around to everything. Alex seems like the kind of guy who will give you everything you want and then some."

"He is." Norma said with a smile. "He's the only man I've ever been with that cares about my happiness over everything else."

"Like I said, lucky lady."

"What about you? Norma said, leaning up against the counter as they talked. "Are you seeing anyone yet, or are you still on your mancott?"

"My mancott failed not long after you left." Amanda said with a guilty smirk.

"I figured as much. Are you still together?"

"No, we broke up."

"Why?"

"It's nothing to worry about, we got more important things to talk about." Amanda said, putting on a smile. "Can I see your dress yet?"

"Amanda." Norma said, keeping her from changing the subject.

"This is your week, you don't need to hear about my drama."

"I do want to hear about it, and if you don't tell me now it's going to bother me till I know."

"Well I met this guy that I really liked."

"That's never been a good thing for you."

"Exactly."

"What happened?"

"I was stupid enough the believe he loved me too. He talked me into moving in together and that seemed great for the first week, then I came home early from work one day and he was in bed with some other girl."

"That is awful, what an ass." Norma said, pissed that anyone could do that to her.

"It's alright, I should have known it wasn't going to last. I just wish I hadn't gave up my apartment for him."

"Where have you been staying?"

"I've been couch surfing till I save up more money for another place. I almost had enough but then I lost my job and I had to use most of it just to get by."

"You aren't working anymore either?"

"No. It's been a rough couple of months." Amanda said, sadness in her voice. "But you know girls like us, we always find a way to keep going."

"What if once all my wedding stuff is done you just stay here, you don't have to go back to Arizona."

"I could barely make it in my hometown, I doubt I would be able to handle living somewhere I've never been before."

"I can help you. I'm going to need someone to work with me at the motel, and as much as the boys think they can do it I'm still going to need another adult to pick up the slack. And you can stay in one of the motel rooms as long as you needed to."

"That's very sweet of you to offer, but I can't accept all that."

"Why not?

"You've just gotten everything together and I don't want to come in here and mess it up."

"You would not be messing thing up, you have never done that. This place, this town and the people in it changed my life. They gave me a chance when I thought the whole world had given up on me." Norma said, her eyes watering at the thought. "Besides, I could really use a worker that doesn't mind getting paid much till I get this place back in shape again."

Amanda smiled at her. "Okay, I'll stay."

After the rest of the house tour Norma brought Amanda to her motel room and got her all set up before getting back to work. Later that evening the both of them went back to Alex's house and opened up a bottle of wine, chatting a few hours about old times and the plans they had going forward with their lives. Amanda caught a cab back to the motel to leave Norma waiting for Alex to get back from his night out with Oliver.

Alex got to the house a little while after ten, hoping Norma hadn't given up on waiting up for him and went to bed. When he opened the front door and walked inside he saw her sitting on the couch, a glass of wine sitting on the coffee table in front of her.

"Sorry, I tried to make it home earlier." Alex said as he walked over and sat down next to her on the couch, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.

"That's okay, Amanda just left." Norma said, scooting closer to him. "You and Oliver have a wild night?"

"Oh yeah, it was crazy. There was booze, naked body parts, and I think I actually got high from all the fumes around us."

"So you did go to a strip club?"

"No." Alex said, shaking his head. "We busted out some beers and painted the room their baby is going to sleep in."

"I thought you said there was naked body parts."

"Oliver wasn't wearing his belt so every time he bent down to paint by the trim I got a shot of something I didn't need to see."

"Well I'm glad you we're only painting, I got a little worried when I noticed this on your collar." Norma said, reaching over at rubbing the red spot on his grey tee.

"Ah yeah, I had painted this little red plane perfectly when he bumped into me and I leaned right onto it. I had to wipe it off with a wet rag and start all over."

"I love that you aren't like any other guy." Norma said, running her hand to the back of his neck and playing with his hair. "I don't know how I got so lucky finding you."

"Technically I found you."

"You know what I mean."

"I know." Alex said, setting a hand on her leg and rubbing it gently. "I guess the universe knew a one of a kind woman like you deserved better than the average asshole, even if you thought you didn't." He said, making her smile. "And hey, I'm like a normal guy in some ways."

"How so?"

Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a few one dollar bills, a smirk on his face. "I'm looking for a bit of entertainment."

"Really?" Norma asked, smirking back at him.

Alex nodded and unfolded the bills, moving her blouse aside so he could slide them into the collar of her dress. "I hope this is enough for the private show, the bank was already closed and this is all I had in my wallet." He said then she stood up slowly from the couch, grabbing her wine glass and taking a sip before walking out in perfect view of him. He sat up to move the coffee table over so there was a clear path between them, sitting back afterwards to watch her.

Norma looked straight into his eyes as she reached for the top button on her blouse, undoing it and moving each side apart to reveal some skin before moving down to the next. Alex watched every movement she made closely, sitting forward some. When she got the last button undone she gently slid the sleeves off her arms, tossing the shirt onto the chair near her. She reached behind her and grabbed the zipper of her dress, attempting to pull it down. After a few tries she let out a laugh, throwing her hands up in the air. "It's stuck."

Alex chuckled then stood up, walking over to her. "I got it." He said then she turned her back to him and his hands went up to her zipper, tugging it past the tough part then pulling it down at the slowest pace imaginable. He crouched down and ran his hand on her bare skin lightly as he continued using his other one to remove it, kissing a trail down her back till he reached the bottom.

"You know touching is going to cost you more." Norma said, looking back at him.

Alex let her dress fall to the floor, leaving her in only her undergarments. He stood straight up and pulled her against his body, wrapping an arm around the front of her. "Would you take a direct deposit?" He asked, kissing her neck as he pressed himself against her.

"I didn't know sweet boys could talk in such a risqué manner." Norma joked.

"I guess you are going to have to teach me a lesson." Alex said, turning her around in one smooth motion so they were face to face. He leaned in and caught her lips, stopping a few moments later when she pulled away.

"Kissing on the lips is also extra." She whispered, their foreheads resting on each others.

"You can have my whole damn wallet if you let me take you upstairs right now."

"You can keep it. I'll give you a special on your last night as a bachelor." Norma said, pulling him into a kiss. He didn't waste any time as he bent down and lifted her up, his lips never leaving hers as he carried her upstairs.

The next morning Norma woke peacefully, stretching an arm across the now empty bed where Alex had fallen asleep next to her. She looked up and saw he was no longer beside her, noticing a note standing up on the nightstand. A fear rushed through her the instant she saw it, worrying he had changed his mind about marrying her today. She sat up and reached for it, opening it up to read.

' _Norma,_

 _See you at the altar._

 _Love, A.'_

Norma smiled to herself as she read it, of course he would leave that kind of note. She sat the note back on the table then stood up, ready to get started on her pre wedding routine. A couple hours later Will dropped the boys off at the house, it was clear they were excited for the big day. She helped them get on their tuxes and brushed their hair back, the both of them looking like little gentlemen when she was finished. Once she was done with them Amanda showed up and helped Norma with the rest of her look, the only thing left to do was put on her dress once she got there.

When they all got to the motel Norma and Amanda went up to the house while everyone started to show up and the boys showed them all to their seats. The whole ceremony was set up in the backyard. They had chairs set up on each side of the long rug they placed from the back end all the way up to the front where an archway sat. The weather was one of the best they had had in months, the sun was out and it lit up the whole yard perfectly.

Inside the house Norma got her dress on, walking over in front of the bedroom mirror and looking it over. It was a plain white dress with a mermaid cut, and a thin floral headband made of lace in her hair.

"You look beautiful Norma." Amanda said, smiling at her from the doorway. "And that dress, it's amazing." She said, walking into the room.

"You don't think it's too boring? I didn't want to go all out on it."

"It's simple and elegant, perfect for you."

"I can't believe that I'm getting married for the third time."

"Don't think of it as your third time getting married, think of it as your first time getting married to the right guy." Amanda said, waving at Norma to walk over to the window. "See him." She said, the both of them looking out at Alex who was standing under the archway fixing Norman's bow tie for him. "That's the only person you need to think about today, because he the one who matters and the last man you will be walking down the aisle to."

Norma smiled wide watching him, any bit of uncertainty drifting away. "I'm ready."

"Alright, I'll go get your crew ready." Amanda said, heading out of the room.

Norma gave herself one last look in the mirror, straightening her dress before going downstairs. When she got to the back door of the house both her sons and Emma were standing there waiting for her, each one of them lit up with smiles.

"You ready mom?" Dylan asked.

"Yeah, let's do this." Norma said then both boys linked arms with her as they started to walk.

Emma led the way, tossing out flower petals on each side of the aisle. The second the music started up Alex snapped his head up and looked at Norma, staring at her as she began to walk toward him. When Emma got to the front she went over and stood with her dad to let the three of them walk the rest of the way on their own, all of them stopping when they got to the end.

Alex stepped forward and smiled at the boys. "Thank you both. I'm gonna take it from here." He said, holding his arm out to Norma.

Norma gave her sons a quick kiss on the cheek then let go of them, linking an arm with Alex as they walked under the archway. They stood face to face and held out their hands, intertwining them together. Norman stood off to the side of Norma and Dylan beside Alex, the four of them so focused on each other as if no one else there existed while the ceremony started.

The town clerk waited for everyone to be seated to speak. "We are gathered here to join this man and this woman in matrimony, which is an honorable estate and is not to be entered into lightly but with great reverence and discretion. Together in mind, together in heart, together in soul for all eternity." She said aloud, looking between the two of them. "The bride and groom have written their own vows and will be reciting them now."

Alex cleared his throat quietly, tightening his grip on her hands as he began. "Norma, over the time we have known each other I have opened up to you more than any one person in my entire life. Still anyone that knows me even a little bit knows that I will say whatever is on my mind, no matter how blunt it might be. So it felt odd to me when I sat down to write my vows and I couldn't think of what to say. It didn't make me doubtful though, because I knew from the second I met you that you were something special, and if I ever got lucky enough to have you in my life that I would never let you go. Because you make me want to be a better person. You opened my eyes and I saw even in a world of disaster I could be a man worthy of your love. I think the reason I had such a hard time coming up with what I should say is because for once there are no words to explain how much I care about you and how much I love you. Instead I plan to show you everyday for the rest of our lives." He said, both of their eyes lining with tears.

"And Norma?" The clerk said.

Norma smiled at him, trying her best not to start crying while she spoke. "Alex, the day we met feels like a miracle to me. My whole life I spent dreaming of the things that could be, never truly believing any of them would ever come my way. As a kid I met a new girl at school and we very quickly became best friends, most days I spent over at her house. Her parents had just divorced before we met and her mom moved to my town, leaving her dad in Portland where they all used to live together. Her father loved taking photos and he would go around the whole city to take pictures of all the sights and mail them to her so she wouldn't feel homesick. She would show me the photos every time they came and it got to the point where I was more excited when they got there than she was, she even gave me my own copies to keep. I looked at every one of them for hours at a time, picturing myself in each photo and living in that city she had told me so much about. I thought that if I could be there then I could have the life I always wanted, that I could be happy. But I didn't need some place from a set of silly photographs to be happy. All that I needed was a certain person, a person like you." She said, her voice starting to crack a little. He gave her hands a reassuring squeeze then she kept going. "I always had something to run from and for the first time I don't have that, you are like my own personal getaway and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you by my side."

The clerk took a moment of silence while they glared blissfully at each other before speaking again. "Alexander, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to love, honor, and protect her in sickness and in health till death do you part?"

"I do." Alex said.

"Norma, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, and protect him, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do." Norma said.

"Do you have the rings?"

"Yeah." Alex said then they both turned to the boys, getting each others rings from them.

Norma took Alex's hand and placed a wedding band on his finger then Alex took hers, sliding her wedding ring on and giving her knuckles a gentle kiss afterwards.

"By the authority vested in me by the state of Oregon, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Alex stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Norma, pulling her in close as he placed a long soft kiss on her lips. Their first kiss as husband and wife, and the beginning of a beautiful marriage.


	45. Chapter 45

A/N: This is going to be a disgustingly long author's note because I am so emotional that this fic has come to an end. But I am really happy because I have had everything finished for sometime now, and waiting to share it with you guys has been eating at me. I almost got impatient and posted them closer together but I really wanted to make it last a little longer. I don't think I have ever connected to a story as much as I did with this one, and that's funny because in the beginning I didn't even want to write it. Also I have never written a story with more than ten chapters or nearly as many words as this one had, so it proves how much fun it was to write. A huge part of my enjoyment was seeing how much you guys loved it, and how you supported every part of it. I know there are barely any readers left in the Bates world, but each review I got for this story was worth more to me than a bunch of them. They were all so kind, so detailed and so meaningful that anyone would say something I created made them happy. So thank you to everyone who came along for the ride and all those who will find this in the future and decide to stick it out the same way. Let me know what you think, and enjoy!

Changing their past had always been one of the most wished for things for Norma and Alex back before they knew each other. They had thought that if only they could tell their younger selves what choices to make or if they had the shot to do it all over again they would change everything, that they could have made things easier for themselves and everyone around them. Neither of them thought like that anymore. If everything would have worked out the way they wanted it to back then Norma never would have been running from an abusive husband and getting stranded on a stretch of road only to be found by Alex. Who at the time was struggling to get the town to take him and his friend seriously after he put his father away, showing up on his day off to get stuff done and prove to them and himself that he could be better than everyone had expected. Sure their lives had been awful most the time, but without all those things they would have never been led together, and that would have been the real tragedy.

"Getaway Motel." Norma said, picking up the phone in her office.

"Could I speak with Alex Romero, please?" The woman over the phone said.

"This is his wife." Norma said, looking over at the office door as it opened and Alex walked inside.

"I have to talk to him specifically."

Norma held the phone out to Alex and he gave her an unsure look. "Your secret girlfriend is on the phone, she's being very conspicuous."

"I told her not to call me at the motel number." He said, taking it from her.

"And on our anniversary no less."

"Such a shame there isn't any considerate mistresses these days." Alex said with a smirk, lifting the phone to his face. "Hello.. Ah, yeah. That should work.. Okay, see you then." He said then reached over past her and hung up the phone.

"What was that about?" Norma asked.

Alex shrugged. "Just a work call."

"You are a terrible liar, you know that right?"

"I'm a great liar."

"Maybe to other people who don't know you like I do, to me it's obvious." Norma said then watched him smirk as he ignored her question still. "So what are you planning?"

"You will have to wait and see."

"Please tell me it's not the Wildlife Safari again. I love you but if I can go the rest of my life without seeing another Wildebeest I'll be happy."

"That was more for the boys than for us. And I fixed the taillight he headbutted."

"Just promise me nothing with wild animals."

"I better call back and tell them it's a no on the goats they were sending over." Alex said, pretending to reach for the phone then she slapped his hand away. "So what time are you and Amanda leaving?"

"Our appointments at three, she called this morning and tried again to change the day but they wouldn't allow it."

"That's okay, she didn't realize today was our anniversary."

"Still, I know how you like to spend the day together."

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine on my own for awhile. You have been talking about using those massage vouchers since you won them at the last fall festival."

"Well it's only an hour then I can come home and see whatever it is you have planned."

"What makes you think I have anything planned?"

"Like I said, I know you."

"That you do." Alex said, leaning in to give her a kiss. "I should get back up to the house with the boys."

"They probably have Oliver handcuffed again by now."

"Actually they were pirates when I left, so it's more likely they have him walking the plank." Alex said as he walked out of her office and headed back up to the house.

When he got inside he could hear voices and clicking sounds from the kitchen, walking over and standing in the hallway as he watched what was going on. Standing in the middle of the kitchen was Norman and a four year old Randy battling each other with play swords while Oliver and a three year old boy and girl sat at the dining chairs with their hands tied loosely behind their backs with rope.

"You will never get them back." Norman said, using his best pirate voice. "They will be perfect food for my parrot." He said then Randy jumped as he swung his sword again, trying to reach up higher on a much taller Norman.

Alex walked into the kitchen and picked up Randy, lifting him to his height. "Get him in the neck." He whispered and Randy took his sword and swiped it across his throat, making Norman dramatically drop to the floor as if he had just been killed.

"I did it!" Randy said happily then looked back at the hostages still in the chairs. "We have to untie them, the water is up to their heads."

"You get your sister, I'll get Xander." Alex said then grabbed the sword Norman had been using off the floor and hurried over to the young boy with dark hair, pretending to cut the ropes off as he untied them from his hands while Randy did the same for the girl with brown hair like his own.

"You saved me daddy!" Xander said as he turned to Alex, standing on the chair as he wrapped his small arms around him.

Alex hugged him back tightly, lifting him into his arms. "I always will."

"Um, you're forgetting about me here." Oliver said, still tied to the chair.

"I'll help you daddy." The little girl said, taking the sword from her brother and going over to untie him.

"Thank you Renee." Oliver said, wrapping his arm around her after his hands were free.

"How long you gonna lay on the floor there Norman?" Alex asked as he set his son back down, looking over at the teen still playing dead.

"I like to commit to my roll." Norman said, sitting up and pulling off the eye patch he had been wearing. "And the sword fight wore me out."

Alex walked over and held out his hand, helping him off the floor. "You know if you tried out for your school plays instead of building sets I bet you would get the lead."

"I'd rather keep working with my hands, I like building things. Besides all the theater kids get made fun of."

"Not by you I hope."

"I would never do that, those kind of people are jerks who will never amount to anything. I did yell at this girl who's on the tech crew for teasing them though, I felt bad about it after but I don't like people who act like that."

"Your mother sure taught you well."

"I think you had a hand in that too."

Alex smiled. "So where's your brother at?"

"Down in his room. We asked him if he wanted to play but he said he was busy. But he says that every time, he's been acting different lately."

"Well he's getting older, that's what happens."

"I know. It just feels like something changed the last few weeks."

"I'll go talk to him, see what's up." Alex said, grabbing the eye patch from him and throwing it at Oliver. "Oliver's the new bad pirate, go get 'em." He said then all the little kids grabbed a sword and ran toward him.

"Thanks." Oliver called out sarcastic as Alex left the room, already being beaten with the plastic swords.

Alex walked over to the basement door, opening it and walking down the stairs. He looked around the basement that they had decided on finishing not long after they learned about Xander being on the way, making it into a little living space for the oldest boy. He walked over to the bedroom door and knocked on the frame, looking in at Dylan sitting at his desk.

"Can I come in?" Alex asked as he turned around, looking at him.

"Yeah." Dylan said, putting down his pencil and turning his chair so he could face Alex who sat down on his bed.

"What are you working on?" Alex asked, glancing at the paper on his desk.

"Essay for English class."

"It's spring break, you aren't supposed to be working on homework."

"It's due the first Friday back, and I'm going to be too busy helping Will out at the University after school to do it any other time."

"I'm glad you offered to help, but are you sure you have time for everything? You are going to be a senior next year, you should be using your free time to keep your grades up and relax while you still can."

"It's only a couple hours a day. And it's just a little grunt work, I won't be doing anything too tiring."

"As long as you're sure you can handle it."

"I am." Dylan said with a nod.

"It will definitely look good on your college applications that you were volunteering."

"Ah, yeah, I guess." Dylan said, getting a little awkward suddenly.

"What?" Alex asked, noticing his shift in mood.

"I kinda wanted to talk to you about that." Dylan said, setting his hand on his legs and rubbing them nervously. "I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I decided I don't want to go to college."

"What?" Alex asked, surprised. "Why not?"

"When I was talking to Will the other day he brought up that Emma's lung capacity has decreased a lot, she needs to start carrying her oxygen tank with her everywhere. That's why he wants me to help so he can get home more to spend time with her. I asked him about the chances of her getting new lungs in time and he said it isn't likely, but he knows of a hospital in Portland that will bump her up the transplant list if he gives a big enough donation."

"How much does he need?"

"Twenty thousand."

"But what does this have to do with you not going to college?"

"I want to give him the money to do it."

"Twenty thousand isn't just something you can scrape together by working a couple jobs."

"I know. I thought we could use the savings mom and you set aside for my tuition, it would be more than enough."

"Dylan, I love Emma, we all do. But you can't sacrifice your future because of something that you aren't even sure will work."

"It is a sure thing, they said they will move her up the list. And it's not only because I care about her, although you did teach me that should be reason enough to do it."

"What is it then?"

"I don't want that life. I don't want to go to college and spend the rest of my life at a job I hate with no one to come home to."

"Where is this all coming from? Up until now you were set on going to business school."

"I was never set on it, it was my default option. The only reason I was going to do it was because that's what everyone said I should do. All my teachers act like it's what's necessary after you finish high school but it's not the only thing, I want to do something better."

"What do you want to do then?"

"I'm going to enlist."

"Enlist?" Alex asked, shock in his tone.

"To the Marines, just like you did."

"Do you know what that entails? It isn't all running drills and target practice."

"I've been looking into it for about a year now."

"Why didn't you bring this up before?"

"Because I didn't want you to try and talk me out of it."

"I wouldn't have." Alex said and Dylan looked at him, not fully believing it. "I can't be so sure about your mother though, she might try and lock you in here when she hears word of it."

Dylan chuckled. "I wouldn't doubt it."

"You're sure about this?" Alex asked seriously.

"I'm sure. And they will cover most college tuition's, so if I end up changing my mind about going when I get back there won't be a problem."

"That will help to say when you are trying to convince Norma this."

"Actually I was hoping you could talk to her about it."

"Brave enough to join the Marines, but you are too scared to talk to your mom?"

"Can you blame me?"

"I guess not." Alex said with a laugh. "I will try. And no matter how she reacts just know that I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." Dylan said as the both of them stood up, giving each other a quick hug. When they pulled apart they heard the sound of footsteps coming down the basement stairs, looking out to see Norman coming down.

"Did they banish you from the ship?" Alex asked him as he walked into Dylan's room.

"No." Norman said. "I snuck off while they were in the middle of attacking Oliver with the stuffed parrot."

"I hope you mean a beanie baby and not one of the ones from Emma's house." Dylan said.

"It's a fake one. Last time we played with a real one Oliver said Renee got creeped out and wouldn't walk past the birds outside for weeks."

"Well if you're done playing with the kids I could use your help getting everything ready." Alex said.

"Yeah, sure." Norman said. "What time is mom leaving at?"

"The appointments at three and Amanda said she'd pull a few interference's to make it longer. So we only have a couple hours."

"Not a whole lot of time to set up a party." Norman said.

"We should have just rented an event room." Dylan added.

"An event room is not where we got married, there's nothing special about that." Alex explained.

"And there is something special about having it in the same spot Chevy poops everyday?"

"He never goes on the patio, and I cleaned up the rest of the yard yesterday." Norman said, still proud to be the one taking care of the dog.

"And I hired a few people to set up the lighting and music. Then Oliver and Stanley agreed to be the grill men and Maggie is picking up the order for salads and condiments at the market, so food is covered. We will only have to put out the tables and chairs then set everything up."

"She's going to like this a whole lot more than the safari." Dylan said.

"Maybe I will finally hear the end of that after this party." Alex joked.

"I know it's kinda last minute but is it okay if I invite someone?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, that should be fine." Alex said. "Who?"

"Bradley."

"Is that a new friend? I never heard you mention him before."

"Bradley's a girl." Norman said nervously. "She's ah- we're kinda dating, I think."

"Dude, you got your first girlfriend?" Dylan asked.

"We haven't made it official yet, but she said she really likes me."

Dylan smirked. "Mom is going to freak out."

"I figure it can't be any worse than when she caught you and Emma snuggling up together on the couch."

"We were watching a horror movie, she was scared." Dylan said defensively.

"The only thing she probably had nightmares about that night was mom lecturing you about how Emma's body was not mature enough for a boyfriend."

"Give her nightmares? That still haunts me to this day." Dylan said with a shiver.

They all stopped talking when they heard the sound of one of the kids crying upstairs, not being able to tell who it was through the floors. "Crying kid, I think that's my cue to get back up there." Alex said, the three of them heading upstairs and into the kitchen.

"It's okay sweetie." Oliver said, comforting his daughter who was sitting in his lap balling her eyes out.

"What happened?" Alex asked in a worried tone, going over to them.

"Xander hit me!" Renee said, talking through her sobs.

"What?" Alex asked, looking over at his son. "Why would you hit her?"

"She wouldn't let me play with the parrot." Xander said.

Alex walked over to the chair he was sitting in and kneeled down in front of him. "That is no excuse, you are never allowed to hit another person. She is your friend. You are supposed to protect her, not hurt her."

"I'm sorry." Xander said sadly, his own eyes filling with tears.

"Don't tell me, tell her." Alex said, nodding toward Renee.

Xander stood up and Alex moved aside so he could walk past, going over to Renee. "I'm sorry I hit you." He said then leaned in and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "There, it's all better now."

Alex went over and put his hands on the young boy's shoulders, looking at Oliver. "Is she okay? He didn't hurt her too bad, did he?"

"No, it was just a little slap luckily. I think she's really tired so it seems a lot worse."

"It probably wasn't a good thing to skip their naps today." Alex said, looking at the tired girl in Oliver's arms. "How about we set them all up in Xander's room." He said then turned to Dylan and Norman. "Can you bring them all upstairs and put them to bed? And make sure there is no more fighting."

"Yeah, we got it." Dylan said, looking over at Xander. "Come on bud, I'll carry you."

"I want Norman to carry me." Xander said, holding his arms out to him.

"If you are going to pick favorites could you at least not do it in front of me, it hurts my feelings." Dylan said as Norman lifted their little brother into his arms.

"Uncle Dylan, you can carry me." Renee said, reaching for him.

"Finally someone who knows how to make a guy feel wanted." Dylan said, taking her from Oliver.

"And you're in charge Randy, make sure Dylan and Norman aren't starting pillow fights up there." Alex said as he passed him, high fiving him like they always did.

"Got it dad." Randy said as he followed the other kids out of the room.

"I thought you were going to talk to him about that." Alex said, looking over at Oliver.

"I haven't had the heart to tell him that you don't actually call your godfather dad." Oliver said, smirking. "Plus I like all the odd looks we get when he calls both of us dad in public."

"You're the only one who enjoys that." Alex said, sitting down at the table. "Sorry about all that, I thought he knew better than to hit someone."

"Well it makes sense our kids would fight, we did our fair share of that. Although I think it would be best if we keep them out of the tree house together, if he's anything like his father."

"Hey, you were asking for that."

"By saying don't you dare push me out of it?"

"I guess you did tell me not to." Alex said, grinning at his friend. "We should get started, Norma's gonna be leaving soon and we don't have much time." He said, standing back up.

"You know, most husbands take their wives out to a fancy dinner for their anniversary, not throw a party." Oliver joked, teasing him in the same way Alex had in the past about his anniversary parties.

"The difference is I'm not going to make my wife do all the work like you do." Alex said with a smirk.

"If that is a crack at my love making it's a low blow." Oliver said as he followed Alex downstairs to gather up the things they were hiding down there for the party.

Nearly three hours later everything was set up perfectly. Alex stood by the front door, waiting for Norma to come inside after he had watched for her out the window. The inside door opened up and Norma and Amanda walked in, looking at Alex.

"I didn't realize you hired a doorman Norma." Amanda said.

"I didn't either." Norma said, grinning over at her husband.

Alex walked over and gave her a quick kiss, staying by her when she kept an arm around him. "How was you massage?"

"Very relaxing." She said then leaned in next to his ear to whisper. "Not nearly as good as yours though."

Alex smiled at his wives seductive tone, somehow making him wish he hadn't made plans so that they could be alone. "So, how many mimosas did you have there?"

"None." Amanda said. "She refused to have any."

"I wanted to be sober when I saw your surprise." Norma said, smiling over at Alex.

"I don't know why you keep bringing up a surprise, I have nothing planned." Alex said as he put his hand on the small of her back and led her through the house.

"Alex, my shoes are still on." She said, laughing at his eagerness.

"You are going to need them." He said as they all got to the back door of the house. "I thought we could have a nice calm night out on the patio."

"If there is a kangaroo or some other hairy mammal out there I swear to god I will divorce you." Norma said as he reached for the doorknob, opening it and stepping outside with her.

Norma looked around at the yard full of their family and close friends, all of them smiling at the happy couple. Along the fences and hanging from the trees were beautiful lights, making the whole backyard visible in the darkening evening. There were several tables set with table cloths and flower centerpieces, and other longer one lined with food, beverages, and dining ware. Her favorite oldies music was playing from the speakers set up around the patio. "You did all this?" She asked, looking at Alex.

"I had a little help." Alex said, smiling over at their kids as they all walked up to them.

"Happy anniversary mom." Norman said, giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Happy anniversary." Dylan said, doing the same.

"Happy married day mommy." Xander said, climbing from Norman's arms into hers.

"We weren't able to teach him how to say it." Norman said with a chuckle.

"Thank you, this is beautiful you guys." Norma said, admiring it more. "You were in on this too?" She asked, looking back at Amanda.

"Well it was either get you out of the house and do something fun to keep your attention, or help set all this up. The massages sounded like the better option to me." Amanda said.

"I got to set up the kids table mommy." Xander said proudly, all of them trying not to laugh as she glanced over at the small picnic table with the cloth placed sloppy on top of it and a centerpiece that couldn't have been further from the middle of the table.

"It looks great honey." Norma said, smiling at the young boy in her arms. "I suppose I should say hello to everyone instead of standing here staring at them." She said, walking with everyone into the yard.

After a good hour of mingling Norma and Alex were settled at a table, their hands intertwined together as they sat. Everyone else had gone off on their own to talk and the kids were playing at their table.

"Those boys look so grown up, don't they?" Norma said, looking across the yard at her older sons talking to Emma and Bradley.

"They really do." Alex said, smiling as he watched them grin at whatever the girls were saying. "I'm gonna tell you something, but try not to freak out."

"That's always a great opening line with women."

"I spoke with Dylan earlier and he told me that he has decided he doesn't want to go to college."

"What?" Norma asked loudly, looking as though she was ready to hop up and go scold him for it that second.

"Remember we are trying not to freak out." Alex whispered, glancing awkwardly around at a few people who had heard her..

"Why would he decide that? He has to go to college."

"He wants to use the savings we have set aside for it to get Emma the lung transplant she needs, he's worried she won't make it long enough to get them on her own."

"You can pay for that kind of thing?" Norma asked, slightly disturbed.

"If Will makes a donation to a hospital in Portland they will move her to the top of the list."

"I'm fine with using the savings to help her, she's like family so anything we can do to keep her around I'll do. But there is no reason he needs to give up on college. We can get him a student loan, or he can use from Norman's. He still has four years till he needs it anyways, we can keep saving more before then."

"That's not the only reason he doesn't want to go."

"What is it then?"

"He's going to enlist in the Marines."

"No." Norma said immediately after the words left his mouth.

"Norma-"

"No." She said again, more sternly. "No, we are not allowing him to do that."

"It's not something we can ban him from doing. He's going to be an adult next year."

"Well then we'll tell him if he goes he won't get to use his college money, Emma won't be able to get her transplant."

"There is no way he will believe that you aren't going to help her no matter what, he'll catch onto your bluff." Alex said then watched as Norma racked her brain for something else they could use to get him to stay. "Norma, I know it's scary to think about him doing, but we need to support him."

"How can you be okay with this? You went, you know what happens there."

"Things were different when I went."

"And how quickly can things take a turn for the worst?"

"He wants this, I can understand the need to enlist."

"You did it to prove to yourself that you weren't like your father, why does he need to do it?"

"Because he's got a good heart, he wants to do this to help people." Alex said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "You raised an amazing kid, and he's going to make a great man. You just have to let him."

Norma looked over at her oldest son as he helped Emma lift her oxygen tank up the steps on the patio, walking with her to the table her father was sitting at and pulling out a chair for her. "I know I do." She said, standing up when she saw him heading for the drink table. "I'm gonna go talk to him."

"Be nice, he was already scared senseless about me bringing it up to you." Alex said and she gave him a reassuring smile as she walked off.

"Better not be grabbing any booze." Norma said, walking up beside him.

Dylan looked over at her and smiled. "Just sodas." He said, holding a couple cans up.

"So, Alex just talked to me about your plans for after school."

"Oh no." Dylan said, mentally preparing for her reaction.

"I think it is an unbelievably stupid decision. It's risky, and you even considering it makes me what to have your head examined." Norma ranted, pausing a moment. "But I'm not going to try and stop you from enlisting, although I hope you know that I have the power to."

Dylan smiled. "I know you do."

"As much as I hate the idea of it I am proud of you. I always knew you were going to change the world, strong men always do."

Dylan set down his sodas on the table then pulled her into a hug. "Thank you mom." He whispered, trying not to let himself get choked up.

"I'm still making you a doctors appointment for a cat scan." Norma said, making him laugh as they let go of each other.

"Seems fair enough." He said, wiping away the tears that had lined his eyes. "So does this mean we can give Will the money for Emma's transplant?"

"You going to college or not was never a factor for that, they can have the money."

Dylan smiled lightly. "It's times like this you make me feel really crappy for how I use to treat you. You gave us the best life you could, and I never should have doubted you."

"You're a huge part of the reason why I have the best life I could too." Norma said, turning and grabbing the sodas he had set on the table and holding them out to him. "Now go enjoy the party while you can because you will be cleaning it up later when I take Alex to one of the motel rooms."

"You had to go and ruin our moment with that." Dylan said as he winced, taking the sodas from her. "Thank you." He said, walking back to his table.

"What took you so long?" Emma asked, smiling at him as he handed her one of the sodas.

"Sorry, I was talking to my mom." Dylan said, setting his hand on the top of her back and glancing over at her father. "Hey Will, do you mind if I borrow her from you for a little while?"

"No, of course." Will said. "Go ahead."

"Where are we going?" Emma asked as he took her hand and helped her out of her chair.

"To our kingdom." Dylan said, smiling at her as they walked through the yard toward the back woods. He pulled out his phone to use for a flashlight, making sure they wouldn't fall in any holes on their way.

Emma looked up on the porch of the tree house, noticing Norman and Bradley standing by the railing. "I thought you still had that fire breathing dragon guarding the place?" She joked, making Dylan look up and see his younger brother kissing the girl he had invited to the party.

Dylan smirked and cleared his throat, getting both of their attentions. "Right next to the no girls allowed sign."

Norman looked down at them shamefully, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "Like you never broke that rule."

"Technically it says 'except Emma'." Emma said then glanced over at Dylan. "So you better not have broken that rule."

"What are you doing out here?" Norman asked.

"Well we weren't coming out here to do that." Dylan said. "We were going to sit and talk."

"You dragged me all the way out here just to talk?" Emma said. "You sure know how to show a girl a good time."

"We were just going back to the party anyways, it's all yours." Bradley said, walking over to the ladder and the both of them climbing down.

"Sorry to crash your little side party." Dylan whispered to Norman as they passed by them.

Emma watched as they got out of earshot then looked at Dylan. "So, now that they're gone what did you really bring me out here for?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Like I said, to talk."

"No fun." Emma said, holding her tank as she walked over to the ladder and started to climb up.

Dylan went up right behind her to make sure she got up it safely, the both of them walking over and sitting with their legs hanging off the sides once they were on it. "You good?" He asked, noticing she was a little out of breath from the climb up.

"Yup, I'm good." She said, looking over at him. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"You know how I told you about me joining the Marines?"

"Yes, which I still think is stupid."

"You and Norma both."

"You finally told them?" She asked and he nodded. "How did they react?"

"Better than I expected."

"Does that mean you are going to enlist?"

"Yeah. I was going to either way, but having their blessing is so much better."

"I know you wanna go, but I can't believe that you are going to make me wait all that time for you to come back." Emma joked.

"Chances are by the time I get back I'm going to be the last guy on your mind."

"If I haven't changed my mind while you've played this whole 'we have to wait till we're adults' game I don't think I'm ever going to."

"Well when I get home you will be eighteen and I can finally take you on that proper date." Dylan said with a smile. "And by then you will be healthier than ever. We'll have our whole lives to spend together."

"If I can even get a transplant by then."

"You will." Dylan said, taking her hand into his.

A couple hours later the whole family was sitting at their table, just having finished their supper as the party seemed to be winding down to an end. Xander had snuck over from the kids table and sat in Alex's lap, still working on a little box of raisins they had gotten him from inside when he didn't want any of the salads.

Dylan stood up from his chair and lifted his soda can, clicking on the side of it with a plastic knife. It made a sad excuse for a toast sound making Norma and Alex laugh. "That isn't working." He said, setting it down. "Hey everyone, can you listen up a minute." He said loudly, getting the parties attention. "I know this isn't a reception or anything but I wanted to say something about my mom and her husband, a man who I fought to keep out of my life over five years ago that turned into my family." He said, looking at the both of them. "I want to say thank you for everything you have done for me, and the strength you have given me to do anything in life. Without either of you I would not have become the man standing here today."

"Thank you." Norma mouthed to him as he sat back down, her eyes already filled with tears again.

Norman stood up from his chair and looked around. "I wish Dylan would have told me we were giving speeches tonight, I would have came up with something beforehand. So sorry if I start to ramble." He said, looking over at his mother and Alex. "When my family first met Alex years ago we were off on the side of the road with a broke down car. He came right up to the window and he took his time to help us, not only towing the car for us but taking us all out for dinner and bringing us right here to this motel so we had a place to stay. My father was never a good guy so a man being that kind to us was something I wasn't use to seeing. For awhile I didn't think about what a gift it was that he had come into our lives, I mostly just thought of him as the man who helped me win a little stuffed owl out of a toy crane machine."

"A toy he slept with for four years afterwards." Dylan added.

"Thank you for that." Norman said to his brother sarcastically before going back into his speech. "But now when I think back to everything that happened since that day I realize this is the family we were meant to have all along. That without each other things wouldn't have turned out this amazingly."

Dylan raised his drink back up and everyone else did the same, Xander lifting his empty box of raisins to mimic them. "To family and friends."

"To family and friends." The whole group said in unison.

Over the next half an hour people said all their goodbyes, the whole family walking the guests to their cars. When the last of them were gone they walked over to the motel's patio and took a seat at the furniture out there, Xander taking his favorite place in his dads lap again.

"Those were some beautiful speeches you boys did." Norma said, looking at her two older sons.

"Well you know we were just trying to get brownie points with the ladies, they like the sensitive guys." Dylan joked.

"We do at that." Norma said, glancing over at Alex.

"Don't look at me when you say that, I'm not sensitive." Alex said, rubbing circles on his sons back.

"You're right, you look like a monster right now."

"Daddy isn't a monster." Xander said. "Renee said he's your prince." He said, looking at his mom.

"She's right about that." Norma said, smiling over at Alex before looking back at her little boy. "And she's a sweet girl, so no more hitting her Alexander."

"I won't, I promise." Xander said. "I said I'm sorry, and I gave her a kiss like you do when I get a boo boo."

"Hey Norman, you realize you and Xander got your first kiss on the same day?" Dylan joked, slapping him on his arm.

"You got your first kiss?" Norma asked in a surprised tone. "With that cute girl you were hanging around with all night?"

"Maybe." Norman said shyly.

"Is she nice?"

"Yeah, she's a nice girl." Norman said then looked over at Alex. "She said her dad hates you though, she isn't sure why."

"What did you do to him?" Dylan asked with a smirk.

"That's a story for another time when there aren't younger kids around." Alex said, looking at the sleepy boy in his lap. "You ready for bed bud?" He asked, earning a nod from him.

"We'll bring him up to bed." Dylan said, him and Norman both standing up.

"I want Dylan to carry me this time." Xander said, holding out his arms to him.

"Sure, you want me to carry you now that there are twice as many stairs to go up." Dylan said, picking him up.

"Night mommy, night daddy." Xander said as Dylan held him down to their level so he could give them both a goodnight kiss. Dylan and Norman both said night to their mom and Alex, wishing them a happy anniversary again before walking off toward the house.

"Should I take it personally that all your kids run off when I show up?" Amanda asked, walking up to Norma and Alex.

"They offered to put Xander to bed." Norma said.

"How sweet of them."

"You ditch Stanley?" Alex asked, looking around for him.

"He's still cleaning the grill, and I wanted to say bye to you before you ran off somewhere to fool around."

"You should have told him he didn't have to do that, we will clean up later." Norma said.

"It's your anniversary, just enjoy it."

"It's technically you're anniversary too, it's been five years since I introduced the two of you. When you took one look at him and whispered to me that I could keep Alex."

"You gave me up for Stanley?" Alex joked.

"Don't take it personally, I knew you loved Norma too much to ever give me a shot." Amanda joked back. "And the day we met doesn't really count as an anniversary."

"Yeah, maybe it wouldn't have if you didn't sleep together that night." Norma said.

"Really?" Alex asked.

"Don't judge me, I get lonely at weddings." Amanda said as Stanley walked over to them, hooking his arm around her.

"Lucky for me." Stanley said, only having caught the tail end of the conversation.

"Thank you both for helping clean up." Norma said.

"Truthfully I'm just trying to trick Romero into giving me a raise."

"If you really want one you better be prepared to come back and mow the lawn this weekend." Alex said then he looked around at the lot.

"On second thought, I don't need it."

"You ready to head out and leave these kids alone?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah." Stanley said then they said their goodbyes before they left.

"I thought all those people would never leave." Norma said, scooting next to him on the bench and his arm went up to wrap around her.

"Not a fan of the big party?" Alex asked.

"I loved the party. But I was ready to be alone with my husband." Norma said, reaching her hand up to hold the one he had resting on her shoulder. "Can you believe that all those years ago we use to sit in this very spot and talk, never knowing we'd end up together?"

"Oh, I knew we would."

"You did not." Norma said with a chuckle. "I annoyed the hell out of you."

"Well that's true." Alex jokingly agreed. "But I still knew."

"I guess I knew too." Norma said, smiling to herself as she thought back to all their early interactions. "Thank you for the party."

"Thank you for the best five years of my life."

"What about all that time we were together before we were married?"

"Well like you said I found you kind of annoying back then." Alex said, earning a playful shove from her before getting serious again. "It's always been the best time of my life with you around."

Norma ran her hand up to his cheek then leaned in to give him a kiss, when she pulled back she looked at him and smiled. "Sometimes I can't believe how far we've come."

"Me either." Alex said, running his other hand through her hair.

"We got pretty lucky, didn't we?" Norma said, thinking about the family they had created together.

"We definitely did."

"For years my biggest fear was that my kids would grow up unhappy the way I had. Now look at them, almost all grown up and happy as ever."

"You did good with them."

"We did good with them." Norma corrected. "Although I'm not sure how I feel about them kissing all those girls and joining the marines."

"Well they are boys, they will do stupid things sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

Alex chuckled. "Okay, most the time."

Norma smiled and laid back in his arms again, letting her free hand fall to her stomach. "As much as I love our sons, I hope this baby is a girl."

Alex turned his face to hers and stared, a smile forming on his lips. "This baby?"


End file.
